ANCHOVY & CHICKPEA CROSTINI

This is from Polpo: A Venetian Cookbook (Of Sorts) by Russell Norman. We really liked his bread recipes but the other chapters not so much.

The saltiness of the anchovy and the earthiness of the chickpeas here are great bedfellows. Its another of those make-a-big-batch-and/keep in the-fridge recipes that is just perfect for snacks.

Ingredients for ten crostini

• 1 X 400g tin of chickpeas

• 10 brown anchovy fillets, plus some of their oil

• Juice of /z lemon

• 1 handful of flat parsley leaves, chopped

• 1 tablespoon tahini

• Black pepper

• About 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

• Half a  French stick (or other bread), sliced and lightly toasted

  
  

Drain and rinse the chickpeas and roughly chop the anchovies. Mix together with the lemon juice, parsley and tahini. Add 1/2 teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper. Pulse in a food processor, with a little anchovy oil from the tin or bottle and enough olive oil to create a chunky paste. Taste and adjust the seasoning (there is no need for salt).

You can use this straight away or put it in a covered container in the fridge for up to a week, taking as much as you want to use out of the fridge before serving to bring it to room temperature. To eat, spread roughly onto lightly toasted slices of French stick

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