Chickpea and Tuna Salad

My maternal grandmother celebrated her 90th birthday yesterday with a large party. All her 5 children, most of her 11 grand-children (I say most, as some of my 11 cousins are scattered around the world - one in India, one in Cyprus and one in Costa Rica; they didn't make it to the party), 8 of her 9 great-grandchildren (one lives on Cyprus) gathered around the large table and feasted on the food. One of my aunties is a trained chef, so she prepared most of the food for the party. However, I was asked to bring " an interesting salad" along :) I thought about it long and hard, and decided to make a tuna and chickpea salad (or tuna and garbanzo salad :)) that I've made couple of times before.

The original recipe is from a British foodblogger, Pertelote (unfortunately she no longer blogs), though I've adapted it over the years. It's a great mix of colours and textures and flavours.


Chickpea and Tuna Salad
(Tuunikala-kikerhernesalat)
Serves 10-12



500 g dried chickpeas/garbanzo beans
water
one jar of roasted peppers in oil
6 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 Tbsp sherry vinegar
2 large red onions
1 tsp cumin seeds
0.5 tsp fennel seeds
0.5 tsp chilli flakes
2 tsp pimentón dulce (Spanish smoked mild paprika powder)
2 cans of tuna chunks in oil
1 onion
1 lemon, juiced
a bunch of (flat-leaf) parsley, finely chopped
salt
black pepper

Soak the chickpeas overnight in cold water.
Next day, drain and rinse the chickpeas. Place in a large saucepan with fresh cold water, season generously with salt. Bring to the boil, reduce heat and simmer for about 1 to 1,5 hours, until the chickpeas/garbanzos are soft, but not mushy. Drain.
Dress the hot chickpeas with olive oil and sherry vinegar.
Cut the roasted peppers into smaller slices, add to the chickpeas.
Peel the onions, cut into quarters. Fry gently in some oil for 5-7 minutes, until they start to soften.
Crush cumin and fennel seeds slightly in the pestle and mortar. Add the spices (cumin, fennel, chilli ja pimentón) to the onions and fry for a minute or two (do not burn!). Add the onions to the chickpeas.
(This can be done until 24 hours in advance).
Drain the tuna chunks, cut into smaller pieces with a fork. Chop parsley finely. Stir into the chickpea salad.
Season generously with lemon juice, and with some salt and pepper.
Serve.

Wild garlic tzatziki aka Ramson tzatziki

I decided to give the ever-popular Greek condiment/salad, tzatziki, a seasonal makeover, using the wild garlic that grows just about 7 minutes from our house. I love the basic tzatziki - yogurt, fresh cucumber and finely chopped garlic. However, when trying to think of new ways of using my wild garlic bounty, it suddenly occured to me that it would make an excellent tzatziki. By simply substituting finely chopped wild garlic for garlic, you'll still get the garlic flavour, but with a twist and lots of extra colour.

Use as you would the regular tzatziki - for dipping, as a condiment or simply as one of the dishes on a spring-time Greek mezze platter. Healthy and really delicious!!!

Note that wild garlic = ramson = bear's garlic (Allium ursinum). If you live in Tallinn, you'll find bunches of wild garlic in all of the three markets (Keskturg, Balti jaama turg, Nõmme turg).

Wild garlic tzatziki
(Karulaugu tzatziki)
Serves 4



2 long or 6-8 short cucumbers
1 tsp salt
a large bunch of wild garlic
250 g plain (Greek) yogurt

Wash the cucumber and grate coarsely. Put on a colander, sprinkle with salt and let stand for 30 minutes.
Finely chop the wild garlic.
Mix wild garlic, drained cucumber and yogurt in a bowl, season with salt, if necessary.

You can vary the thickness of your tzatziki by using either a strained Greek yogurt (first photo) or ordinary plain yogurt (second photo).

Gnocchi Puttanesca

I've been eating quite a lot of gnocchi dishes recently. There's a nice deli at our neighbourhood that now stocks decent ready-made gnocchi, and it's been a convenient lunch or dinner option ever since. As you know, the classic potato gnocchi are rather bland on their own, so it's the sauce that makes (or not) the dish.

The bold Puttanesca sauce proved to be an excellent accompaniment to the gnocchi.

Gnocchi Puttanesca
(Gnocchi-klimbid Puttanesca-kastmega)
Serves 2 as a light meal

500 g gnocchi (store-bought)

Puttanesca sauce:
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 onion
2 garlic cloves
2 anchovy fillets (in oil)
2 tsp salted capers
large handful of pitted black olives
a generous pinch of dried chilli flakes
400 g can chopped tomatoes
salt and freshly ground black pepper
a generous handful of flat-leaf parsley, chopped
grated parmesan, for serving

Chop onions, garlic and anchovy fillets. Stone the olives, cut the olives into slices. Rinse the capers, drain.
Heat oil in a saucepan, add onions and fry for about 5 minutes over moderate heat.
Add garlic, anchovies, olives, capers, chilli flakes. Give it a good stir, then add the chopped tomatoes and season with salt and pepper. Simmer over moderate heat for 15-20 minutes, stirring every now and then, until the sauce thickens slightly.
Meanwhile bring salted water into boil in another saucepan. Add the gnocchi and boil for 2-3 minutes (or whatever time is given on the packet), until the gnocchi float to the surface.
Drain the gnocchi and stir into the Puttanesca sauce.
Serve at once, sprinkling some grated Parmesan on top.