Savoury

Savoury chickpea pastry parcels and dog walking, matador-style

courgetteparcel
If you ever happen to be in the ‘Landes’ forest and spot someone dressed in full body armour, brandishing a big red cape, matador-style, that’ll be me. Hugo’s 30 kilos of muscular dynamisn, a by-product of daily triathlon training,  plus an ardent passion for ‘walkies’ have become a  mortal combination.  He charges back and forth like a bull, playing ‘chicken’ with my unsuspecting shins and leaving it to the very last possible second to swerve to avoid them (or not as the case may be!) He also grabs my shoes in his jaws, willing them to move faster. I’ve been knocked flying on several occasions, which unfortunately has only ever served as a pretext for much guilt-induced licking which, frankly, I could live without…
These savoury parcels are finger-licking good, as well as being very nutritious and quick and easy to make. They are wheat-free.
Ingredients for chickpea pastry (makes about 4 parcels)
80g spelt flour
50g chickpea flour
50g butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
Pinch of sea salt
Roughly 6 tablespoons of cold water
Ingredients for filling
1 courgette, grated
1 potato, boiled and chopped into cubes
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
4 tablespoons parmesan, grated
2 tablespoons pine nuts
6 fresh mint leaves, cut into pieces
Sea salt to taste
1 teaspoon paprika
To make the pastry, begin by cutting the butter and into small cubes. Sift the flours and a pinch of salt together into in a mixing bowl, also adding the cubes of butter. Rub in and blend by hand until the mixture becomes crumbly. Add the olive oil and combine well and then add the cold water, mixing rapidly with a spoon. Remove the mixture from the bowl onto a lightly floured surface. Knead until you obtain a ball of pastry (if the mixture isn’t ‘sticky’ enough to form a ball, you may need a drop more water). Wrap in a clean cotton tea towel or some cling film and leave to ‘rest’ in the fridge for about two hours. This relaxes the dough and makes it easier to use.
To make the filling, combine the ingredients in a bowl, mix well and then press a little with your fingers so that the mixture gains in density.
Preheat the oven to 180°C. Roll the pastry out on a clean, dry, floured surface. Cut into squares of approximately 15cm, put a good tablespoon of mixture into foldpastrythe middle and then fold back the edges to meet in the middle and form a parcel. Press the edges together until the pastry sticks.
Place the parcels on a lightly oiled baking tray and cook for 20 minutes.

16 Comments

  • Joyce Rebecca Nichols

    what other flour would work in this other than spelt. Spelt is full of gluten and I am a celiac… other than that it sounds like a great recipe. I have made up some of your other recipes and they are excellent. By the way I was curious as to the plugin you are using above for your shares… Would you mind sharing the info. thanks.Joyce

    • The Healthy Epicurean

      Thank you Joyce Rebecca 🙂 You could try to make the pastry with 100% chickpea flour – it would be very tasty but rather crumbly. I used spelt because, as it contains gluten, it makes the pastry easier to manipulate, which is particularly important in this recipe as it needs to be folded. You could perhaps also try using half chickpea, half your usual gluten-free flour? The share buttons are standard with WordPress.

    • The Healthy Epicurean

      Yes they are a tiny bit like samosas. In fact, funnily enough, I made some more today with a curried vegetable and lentil filling. A tamarind dipping sauce would be great. And yes, just call me Superwoman 😉

  • Needful Things

    I can’t find spelt flour where I live – could I use regular flour? These sound very good. I’m thinking of pairing them with a chipotle-raisin chutney I make.

    • The Healthy Epicurean

      You could definitely use regular flour. I use spelt because I can’t tolerate wheat and also because I find it tastier. It’s definitely worth adding a bit of chickpea flour if you can find it though – it really adds to the taste. They would go really nicely with your chutney, which sounds delicious 🙂

  • Chez Foti

    Oh these look and sound delish! I regularly get bruised and winded by Dottie, our over-exuberant 25 kilo (possibly more) 14 month old Collie, who has zero concept of her speed/body weight/distance from peeved owner. Usually when the ground is somewhat muddy, which granted is most of the time this year! I fear she’s not the brightest.

  • Brooke Schweers

    Yum these look delicious. Spelt is the only gluten flour I eat so these are perfect for me. Ive been wondering what to do with the bag of chickpea flour in my cupboard for a while now!

  • annelifaiers

    Ooh, what a lovely healthy alternative to a Cornish Pasty! I love the idea of the filling with the pine nuts and mint in there. Bet thats delicious! What a lovely light summery idea. You have inspired me xx

    • The Healthy Epicurean

      Hi Gilly! How are you? What’s new?
      I buy spelt flour in one of the numerous ‘bio’ supermarkets around here but any health food shop will have it. I use ‘petit épeautre’ which is more tender than ‘grand épeautre’ but you could use either…

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