Pizza roasted chickpeas
Y’all know… can I get away with saying ‘y’all’? I’m thinking not, though it’s definitely at least 80% of the reason I’d quite like to be an American. I’m obviously still watching far too much Nashville.
Anyway, y’all know how much I dig pizza (I definitely can’t pull off ‘dig’, but we’ll go with it) – so much so that I do just about anything I can to eat it as often as I can, while pretending it’s an entirely different meal (see: pizza baked gnocchi, cauliflower pizza, Indian-style pizza, etc). And, since my nacho roasted chickpeas went down so well allllll that time ago (18 months!!), I thought I’d do a pizza version. Pizza roasted chickpeas!
When I say pizza, of course I really just mean that these roasted chickpeas are flavoured with cheesy tomatoey bits, no bread. So really, this is totally healthier than actual pizza – protein-rich chickpeas rather than nutritionless white bread (and there ends the only time I will ever say anything remotely negative about pizza. Don’t worry, I’m perfectly happy to eat nutritionless white bread 90% of the time).
I’ll warn you, these chickpeas were incredibly difficult to dish up – purely because the cheeky things kept trying to jump into my mouth. I just couldn’t stop them (I’ll admit, I probably could have tried harder).
My favourite thing about this dish is (obviously) the cheese – you get a combination of stringy, melty mozzarella and the crispy bits from around the edge of the pan. Together with the rich sun-dried tomatoes and fresh basil, they give the perfect pizza flavour.
I had these chickpeas on their own for lunch, but serve them alongside a big heap of veg (I’m thinking something green and leafy maybe?) and they’d make a great dinner too. Nutritious and delicious.
Pizza roasted chickpeas
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Print Pin CommentIngredients
- 400 g tin chickpeas 240g when drained, drained
- 1/2 tbsp oil
- 1/2 tsp mixed Italian dried herbs
- Salt
- Black pepper
- 1 tbsp tomato puree
- 3 large chunks sun-dried tomato finely chopped
- 3 tbsp fresh basil chopped
- 30 g shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1 tbsp pine nuts
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 190°C (Gas Mark 5 / 375°F.
- Toss the chickpeas in the oil, Italian herbs and seasoning, and spread out in a single layer on a baking tray. Roast for around 15 minutes, until slightly crispy and golden brown.
- Remove from the oven, and add the tomato puree, chopped sun-dried tomatoes, basil, mozzarella and pine nuts. Mix well, and return to the oven for a further 5 minutes, until the cheese has melted and just started to go crispy around the edges. Serve immediately.
Nutritional information is approximate, and will depend on your exact ingredients. Please calculate your own nutritional values if you require accuracy for health reasons.
Hi! Such a great idea. I tried it out today and it looked and smelled beautiful. But I found the chickpeas themselves to be very dry and a bit bland, even though the bits around were good. Any ideas what I did wrong?
Hmm, I’m not sure. Maybe next time try cooking everything for a couple of minutes less – or add a bit more cheese for more moistness? Or maybe this dish just isn’t for you! :)
Oh how great the Pizza Roasted Chickpeas would be with a toasred salad. Is it dinner time yet .
This would be so good with a glass of beer :D
I’ve just bought a massive bag of dried chickpeas purely because they’re useful to have on standby, I’d never thought of doing anything like this with them though so thanks for the inspiration :)
These are great. Trying these very soon!
What a great idea for a meal… looks and sounds utterly divine!!!! Will be road testing this on my boys to see how they get on with it.
YES! I need this in my mouth asap! YUM
Now this is the sort of idea that will get my family excited! My toddler loves roasted chickpeas and pizza, this will be a great way to make something tasty and nutritious. X
Love your site, and have made a number of your dishes with great success! Just to clarify for this recipe: do you mix all the ingredients and then bake in the same baking tray? What size? Should this spread out in the dish, or bake more like a casserole? I’m having trouble envisioning what baking dish to use. Thanks!
Hi Em, thanks for your kind words! :) I spread my chickpeas out in a single layer on a large baking tray so that they could get nice and crispy. Then after adding the other ingredients, I spread them out again. It’s not like a casserole, just spread everything out in one layer :)
what a gorgeous idea – there is an Indian chickpea dish with tamarind sauce that I love and this is a wonderful comfort food without the carb overdose of a pizza base. clever!