Recipe: Green Chickpea Dippers with Chipotle Mayo

By Bettina Campolucci Bordi

7 months ago

The ultimate finger food


Plant-based chef Bettina Campolucci Bordi shares her recipe for green chickpea dippers with chipotle mayo.

Bettina’s Chickpea Dippers Recipe

These make a great little starter and are the ultimate finger food – a mouthful that is oh-so satisfactory and a taster for things to come. I like wrapping these in baby gem lettuces with a dollop of creamy chipotle for good measure.

Note: The dried chickpeas will need soaking overnight, so bear this in mind when planning this dish.

Makes 18 dippers

Ingredients

 For the dippers:

  • 250 g (9 oz/ 1 cup) dried chickpeas, soaked overnight in a large bowl of water
  • 1⁄2 shallot, diced
  • A handful of spinach leaves
  • 1 tablespoon tahini
  • Juice of 1⁄2 lemon
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • A pinch of salt
  • Olive oil, for shallow-frying

For the chipotle mayo:

  • 200 g (7 oz/3⁄4 cup) plant mayonnaise
  • 1 teaspoon chipotle oil or a pinch of chipotle powder

To serve:

  • 1–2 baby gem lettuce heads
  • Sriracha sauce

Method

  1. Drain and rinse the chickpeas that you soaked overnight.
  2. Blitz all the ingredients for the dippers (except the olive oil) in a food processor or blender until smooth.
  3. Using two large spoons, take 1 tablespoon of the dipper mixture and form into quenelles. Shallow-fry in olive oil in a frying pan (skillet) for a few minutes, turning to brown all sides. Repeat until you have used up all the mixture (about 18 dippers).
  4. To make the chipotle mayo, mix both ingredients in a bowl and set aside.
  5. To serve, separate individual baby gem lettuce leaves and arrange in a single layer on a platter. Place a chickpea dipper on each lettuce leaf and drizzle with the chipotle mayo and Sriracha sauce.