A Winelover's Wanderings

Today is a sad day - the last episode of our Sunday Small Bites series. We have made so many great appetizers, each of us picking an ingredient for one particular week.

It's a sad day, but also a happy day because next week we start our Sunday Slow Suppers series, where we will do entrees. Each of my fellow bloggers will pick a type of entree and post a recipe in advance. Then each of us will make the recipe, with our very own signature twist, by adding or subtracting ingredients and posting about the results. Sound like fun?

This week the ingredient is chickpeas (aka garbanzos), chosen by Kathy of Trekcapri's Blog I found three possible recipes, but two of them included chickpea flour, which I could not find. The third was a Bobby Flay recipe from foodnetwork.com.

Shrimp Flat Bread with Chickpea Puree and Cilantro Pesto

Recipe courtesy Bobby Flay

Prep Time:5 hr 0 min
Inactive Prep Time:0 min
Cook Time:15 min
Level:0

Serves:4 servings

Ingredients Flat bread:

* 1 1/2 cups warm water
* 1/2 teaspoon dry yeast
* 4 cups all purpose flour
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 2 tablespoons oil

Directions:

Mix water and yeast and let stand 15 minutes. Gradually pour in 2 cups of the flour and incorporate. Mix for about 1 minute to form a sponge. Let stand, covered for at least 1 hour. Put sponge in the bowl of a standing electric mixer. Using the dough hook, add the salt and oil, then flour 1/2 cup at a time to form a dough. Remove from bowl and knead until smooth. Place in a clean oiled bowl and let rise, slowly, about 2 1/2 hours. Divide dough into 4 balls, let rise again for 1/2 hour and roll out. Preheat grill. Flatten the dough, brush liberally with olive oil and throw on the grill. Grill on 1 side until golden brown then turn over and grill on the other side.

Chickpea Puree:

* 2 cups cooked chickpeas
* 3 cloves garlic
* 1/4 cup finely chopped red onion
* 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
* 1 teaspoon chipotle puree
* 1 tablespoon honey
* 1/2 cup olive oil
* Salt and freshly ground pepper
* 1/2 cup tahini

Combine all ingredients in a food processor and process until smooth. Season with salt and pepper.

Cilantro Pesto:

* 2 cups cilantro leaves
* 4 spinach leaves
* 1 tablespoon pine nuts
* 3 cloves garlic
* 3 tablespoons Parmesan cheese
* 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
* 1/4 cup olive oil
* Salt and freshly ground pepper

Place all ingredients in a food processor and process until smooth. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Grilled Shrimp: 16 large shrimp olive oil Salt and freshly ground pepper Heat grill pan until smoking. Brush shrimp with olive oil and season with salt and pepper to taste. Grill for 1 minute on each side.

Assembly: Grilled flat bread Chickpea Puree 8 ounces soft goat cheese, crumbled Grilled Shrimp Cilantro pesto Chopped cilantro Finely diced red pepper

Spread 1/4 cup of the chickpea puree over each flat bread. Sprinkle with some of the goat cheese. Place 4 shrimp on each flat bread and top each shrimp with 1 teaspoon of the pesto. Garnish with chopped cilantro and finely diced red pepper.

Well, as you probably guessed, I got lazy and didn't do the flatbread part. Instead I had a small loaf of La Brea Bakery's Roasted Garlic Bread on hand, so I sliced that. I really do want to try the flatbread sometime though.

I also could not find tahini in any of the markets I frequent. Guess I need to visit a Middle Eastern store for that. I read online that a substitute can be peanut butter, so I added a little bit of that.

We thought the dish was wonderful, such good flavors and fairly healthy, I guess. I will definitely make it again.