merrifood

Sweet potato chickpea patties

Posted by merrifood on March 19, 2013 · 1 Comment 

Recently, I’ve gotten really into chickpeas.  This hasn’t been a conscious choice but whenever I search for vegetarian recipes on Tastespotting they seem to be in almost all of them.  And why not?  They are incredibly versatile – you can roast them, put them in soups, or mash them up and put them in delightful things like these little concoctions.  Adding sweet potatoes and the rather interesting component of peas makes for a nice new creation and permanent addition to my Sunday dinner roster.  Most recipes call for cooking patties like this in a skillet which often requires more oil than I’d like to ensure they don’t stick to it or fall apart.  So, I decided to bake them instead, and the result was incredible.  They come together quite fast and I honestly challenge you to eat just one.

Sweet potato chickpea patties (adapted from Diet Taste)

Ingredients – makes 10-12 patties depending on size

• 3/4 pound (800 g) sweet potatoes, peeled and diced – think 1 medium-large sweet potato
• 1 1/2 cup chickpeas (garbanzo beans), cooked – basically just a can of them
• 2 scallions, cut (I used more)
• 1 clove garlic, crushed – or just use a teaspoon of minced garlic
• 2 teaspoons cumin
• 1 tablespoon fresh ginger root, grated – or use a tablespoon of minced ginger (honestly I love freshly grated ginger but it’s just so much easier to add to recipes when it comes from a jar)
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ground black pepper
• 6 tablespoons whole wheat flour or all-purpose flour
• 1 cup frozen peas (no need to defrost)

Cook sweet potatoes in boiling water until soft. Drain and transfer to a bowl.  In a blender (I just have a tiny one), puree the chickpeas.  If you have a big food processor, you can put in the all the ingredients up to the flour, but I mixed everything in a bowl and only pureed the chickpeas.  Make sure to mash everything very well if you’re mixing by hand – I used a potato masher.

After you’ve added all the ingredients up to the flour and they are thoroughly combined, add ~6 tablespoons of flour.  Depending on your quantity of chickpeas / sweet potato, you may not need all 6 tbsp or you may need more.  Start with 3, add in the frozen peas, and then add more if the mixture is still quite gooey.  You should be able to pick it up and form it into patties.

Form the mixture into fairly small circles that are about 1/2 inch (1 cm) thick and 2.5 inches (5 cm) wide.  On a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or sprayed with non-stick spray, lay out all the patties.  Bake in an oven at 190 C / 375 F for about 20-30 minutes.  To be honest I am not entirely sure of cooking time because I tend to go by smell / taste rather than a specific cooking time when I cook.  After 10 minutes, check on them and if they are starting to brown flip them over.  They should be flipped through halfway through the cooking time.

Sweet potato cooking away – wait until it’s soft so it’s quite easy to mash

Put pureed chickpeas into the sweet potato mix and mash together

Rest of the ingredients added – peas, scallions, etc.  6 tablespoons of flour is just a guideline – you can use more or less depending on the quantities of other ingredients.  You just need to be able to form them into patties.

Shaped into patties and placed on a baking sheet

They are done when they are nicely browned and crisped around the edges – if you take them out too soon, the insides will be a bit uncooked, so if you want you can take them out and cut one in half to test it when you think they are done

People, these are quinoa pizza ball level delicious.  I like them warm, lukewarm, or even straight out of the fridge for a late night snack (and how much healthier is this than cookie dough?).  If you have never liked or tried chickpeas, this recipe will make a total chickpea convert out of you!