Chickpea Salad with Roasted Capsicum Dressing and Grilled Prawns
Photography by Aaron McLean.
Chickpeas or garbanzos as they are called in Spain are found on menus everywhere. At La Castela in Madrid we enjoyed a similar dish topped with fat prawns and drizzled with the greenest olive oil.
Serves: 6
INGREDIENTS
2 cups dried chickpeas, soaked overnight in cold water
5 cups chicken stock
3-4 cups water
4 cloves garlic, peeled
2 bay leaves
2 leeks, white part only, cut into 3 cm pieces
2 tablespoons olive oil
Capsicum dressing
2 red capsicums
1 clove garlic, crushed
½ teaspoon sweet smoked paprika
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons sherry vinegar
sea salt and freshly ground pepper
Grilled prawns
12-16 raw, peeled prawns
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tablespoon chopped flat-leaf parsley
To serve
2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley
fruity extra virgin olive oil
METHOD
Drain the chickpeas and place in a large saucepan. Add the chicken stock, 2 cups of water, the whole garlic cloves and bay leaves. Bring to the boil and skim off any foam that comes to the surface. Simmer gently until tender, adding more water if needed, but only enough to just keep them covered. When cooked, add the leeks and olive oil and simmer until there is only about 2 cm of liquid left in the saucepan.
Preheat the oven to 200°C.
Capsicum dressing: Put the capsicums in a roasting dish and cook until the flesh is soft. When cool, hold the capsicums over a sieve sitting over a bowl. Peel and remove all the seeds. Place the flesh and the juices, garlic, paprika, olive oil and vinegar in a food processor and process to make a thick sauce. Season.
To finish: Toss the prawns with the oil, garlic and flat-leaf parsley. Sauté in a hot pan until just cooked. Season.
To serve: Season the chickpeas and toss with the flat-leaf parsley. Place on a serving platter and lay the prawns on top. Spoon the capsicum dressing around the salad then drizzle with extra virgin olive oil. Serve the remaining capsicum sauce in a bowl.

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