Pot chickpeas with ground meat

Another traditional way of having dried legumes, especially for those who are not big fans of pulses. The combination with ground meat is very interesting and very tasty

Recipe of Argyro Barbarigou, a prominent Head Cook and food writer in Greece

Check out her great site Argiro to discover more delicious recipes

Ingredients (for 6 people):
500gr. dried chickpeas
1 tbsp of baking soda
500gr. ground beef (passed just once through the mincer)
2 cloves of garlic, cut in half
2 onions, sliced
1 carrot, grated
1/2 tea-cup of olive oil
400gr. tinned tomatoes, chopped
1 bay leaf
1/3 tea-cup of dry white wine
2 tbsp of flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
salt
pepper

Method:
The night before fill with water a large bowl and add the baking soda in to dissolve. Add the chickpeas and let them soak all night. Next day drain in a colander and rinse very well.

In a pot warm half of the oil in medium-high heat and sauté the ground beef for 5-6 minutes stirring with a wooden spoon until it changes colour. Add the onions, the garlic and the carrot and sauté for another 4-5 minutes.

Pour over with the wine and stir until some of the alcohol is evaporated. Add the chickpeas, the tomatoes, the bay leaf and enough water just to cover the ingredients.

Semi-cover with a lid, turn the heat to medium and simmer the food until the chickpeas are tender and the food is left with a nice thick sauce. Towards the end of the cooking add the rest of the olive oil, season with salt and pepper and add the parsley. Let it simmer a bit longer and switch off the heat.

Serve on the plates with a heaped tablespoon of Greek strain yoghurt on top.