Ceci

Name: Ceci
Yield: makes 2 cups cooked ceci
Ingredients: 1 cup ceci (chickpeas), soaked overnight; 2 tablespoons kosher salt; 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil; 1 large carrot, peeled and halved; 1 celery rib, halved; 1 dried arbol chile; 16 garlic cloves; 1/2 yellow Spanish onion, halved

January 26, 2012

These days it’s almost old-fashioned to cook your own beans, even for restaurants. While canned are surprisingly good (I included many canned beans in recipes in my last book, A Twist of the Wrist), homemade beans are so much better. The key to good dried beans is to cook them long enough so that they become creamy. Many restaurants undercook their beans, and frankly I would rather have canned beans than beans that are dry and chalky.

Recipe notes

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