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polpettone ceci cavolfiore vegan chickpea loaf

Cauliflower chickpea loaf with Italian salsa verde

Preparazione 30 minuti
Cottura 30 minuti
Tempo totale 1 ora
Porzioni 2

Ingredienti
  

For the cauliflower chickpea loaf:

  • 400 g cawliflower raw, or 250g boiled/steamed
  • 1 clove garlic
  • q.s. chili powder (optional)
  • 1 leaf sage
  • q.s. rosemary fresh
  • q.s. olive oil
  • q.s. salt
  • q.s. pepper
  • 100 g chickpea flour, sifted

For the vegan salsa verde

  • 1 potato boiled
  • 1 handful parsley fresh
  • 2 tbsp capers
  • 2 tbsp capers preservation water
  • q.s. olive oil

Istruzioni
 

  • Finely chop the herbs and spices: sage leaf, rosemary, fresh or dried chili to taste, along with the garlic clove. Put the mixture to heat in a pan with a little oil and add the raw cauliflower, cut into small pieces. Add a glass of water, cover with a lid and simmer until the cauliflower is tender and the water has dried completely (about 15 minutes). If you use cooked instead of raw cauliflower, don't add the glass of water and just stir the cauliflower for a few minutes, until it gets tender and spicy.
  • Set aside the cauliflower and turn on the oven at 350°F. To prepare the salsa verde, put in a blender the potato, parsley, capers, their pickle and a drizzle of olive oil. Blend until smooth and creamy, taste it to see if you like the texture and flavor; adjust consistence and flavor adding water (if needed) or a little bit of salt. I had no need to add salt as pickled capers make the salsa tasty enough for me. Store the salsa verde in the fridge while you go on preparing the loaf.
  • Mash the cauliflower until creamy, without visible chunks. Add sifted chickpea flour a little at a time and knead with your hands until you have a soft, homogeneous dough. Don't worry if the loaf dough will be slightly sticky, after baking it will get nicely firm.
  • Take a 20cm loaf pan, grease it lightly and put the loaf dough into it. Flatten the loaf surface using a spoon and bake for 30 minutes.
  • After baking, let the loaf cool down a little before turning it out. Serve sliced with the salsa verde.

Note

You can vary the amount of ingredients according to your needs, and also vary the baking mold to give a different shape to your loaf; just keep in mind that you must flatten the dough about 3 cm thick (to avoid that the loaf won't be done in its centre).
You can prepare this loaf in advance. After baking just let it cool down and store it in the fridge. Shortly before serving, just take it out from the fridge, cut it into slices, and reheat for a few minutes.