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Home / Food and Wine Pairings / Chickpea crêpes with swiss chard and cherry tomato sauce

Chickpea crêpes with swiss chard and cherry tomato sauce

“Decanted” Dave Adams
Wine Pairings:   Carignan

, 

Pinot Noir

, 

Look to Pinot Noir for a terrific pairing with these farmer’s market friendly chickpea crêpes

 

Savvy match: These chickpea crêpes would work well paired with light, refreshing red wines, like a Carignan, Sangiovese, Barbera, or even rosé which will act as bright, acidic, and savory counterparts to the cherry tomato sauce. A fruity-forward Pinot Noir is another excellent choice due to its flexibility when accompanying veggies of all sorts but veer away from robust Pinots that sport gripping tannins. 

Don’t be deceived: these chickpea crêpes may appear to be a complex, laborious meal, but it’s pretty easy to pull off and features fresh veggies like cherry tomatoes and Swiss chard that highlight summer’s bounty. 

As someone who loves to loaf around for a couple of hours every Sunday at my local farmer’s market, I often take advantage of the super fresh bounty of summer produce that appears there. Of course, those markets will likely feature a bumper crop of cherry tomatoes if you haven’t already grown some yourself, but your local grocery will usually have them as well. Swiss chard is another vegetable that will turn up during the warmer months and beyond, but this recipe will work just as well with fresh kale, collard, or mustard greens. Heck, you could probably make this work with beet-tops, if that’s the only thing handy! 

For the chickpea crêpes, the wild-card ingredient here is the chickpea flour, which has become more commercially available these days. If you still can’t find it locally or online, grind dried chickpeas in a strong blender or food processor until it’s the consistency of flour. Still, honestly, that usually is not as finely textured nor as convenient as the pre-made stuff. Worst case scenario: this recipe would still work beautifully with traditional wheat-flour crêpes. 

Also, I added some plant-based sausage to make this a heartier meal; you can use any sausage (it’s pretty great without.) But, if you do say “yes” to sausage, chop it up and fry it before adding the Swiss chard, and those smoky flavors will nicely complement the greens. If you’re low on sausage, mushrooms will do the trick, too, sprinkled with a bit of smoked paprika. Don’t let anyone tell you how to stuff your crêpe if you know what I mean … and I think that you do.

 

 

Ingredients

For the crêpes:
  • 2 cups of chickpea flour
  • 2 ½ cups of water
  • 1 tablespoon of ground cumin
  • 2 teaspoons garlic powder
  • 2 teaspoons onion powder
  • 1 large pinch of salt
  • 1 teaspoon fine ground pepper, or to taste
  • Crumbled feta cheese for garnish
  For the cherry tomato sauce:
  • 4 cups of cherry tomatoes
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon butter or butter alternative
  • 2 large cloves of garlic, minced
  • 1 medium sized yellow onion, finely diced
  • 1 teaspoon salt (or more to taste)
  • ½  teaspoon sugar
  • A dash or two of balsamic vinegar
  • A dash of tabasco sauce (more if you like it spicy)
For the Swiss chard:
  • 1 large bunch of Swiss chard
  • ½ cup sausages, diced
  • 1 tablespoon of olive oil
  • 2 teaspoons whole cumin seeds
  • 2 large shallots, or the equivalent
  • 2 large cloves of garlic, minced
  • 2 sausages, cubed or minced (optional)

Steps

1.

Prep the crêpe batter:

Vigorously mix all crêpe ingredients in a large bowl using a whisk or in a food processor until there are no lumps. Set aside for at least 30 minutes.

2.

Cook the cherry tomato sauce:

Heat a large skillet on medium, once it’s hot add the olive oil and the diced onions, salt and pepper. Sauté the onions until they’re starting to brown slightly. Add the minced garlic and cook for another minute.

3.

Add all the cherry tomatoes to the pan and cover, reducing the heat slightly. Let the tomatoes steam for about seven minutes, or until the skins start to split and they begin to break down. Use a potato masher or a fork to smash the tomatoes and break them down further, releasing their juices.

4.

Add the butter, sugar, balsamic vinegar and tabasco sauce and leave the sauce uncovered to reduce a bit, about another seven minutes. Then transfer all the sauce into a food processor or blender and puree until the skins are broken down and the sauce is smooth. Return to the pan, turn off the heat, cover and set aside.

5.

Cook the Swiss chard:

While the tomatoes are breaking down, wash and tear the Swiss chard leaves off the stems. Stack them like playing cards and roll them together like a cigar. Finely slice the greens into thin ribbons.

6.

Heat a medium non-stick skillet on medium heat. Add olive oil, and brown the sausage if you’re using it, then remove it from the pan and set aside.

7.

Add the cumin seeds and let them fry in the oil for a minute until they begin to brown and pop. Add the shallots, salt and pepper and fry until they begin to brown then add the garlic and saute for another minute. Add the greens to the pan in batches and toss with the shallots until they have reduced in size, after about four or five minutes. turn off the heat, mix the sausage in and cover.

8.

Cook the crêpes:

Heat a large, non-stick skillet or crêpe pan over medium heat. Once the pan is hot, add oil to it to coat and ladle in about ⅓ cup of batter, tilting the pan in a circular motion to coat the surface evenly. Cook until bubbles form on the top, flip, reduce the heat to low and cook the other side.

9.

Assemble the crêpe:

Spoon about 2 tablespoons of the sauce all around the surface of the crêpe. Add a line of the greens (and sausage) down the center. Using a spatula, fold over one side of the crêpe to the center, then the other. Try to get the two sides to remain in place with a spatula before plating.

10.

On a dinner-sized plate, spoon about ½ to ⅓ of the tomato sauce into a circular pool, wide enough to still be visible when the crêpe is slid out of the pan onto the center of the sauce. Garnish the crêpe with the feta or goat cheese and sprinkle a little around the plate. Serve hot.

Chef Image

About “Decanted” Dave Adams

Dave Adams is not a professional chef but is a devoted home cook who strives to make memorable vegetarian and vegan meals that appeal to the people who populate his life, including adults and children. Dave is a "Negan" (nearly vegan), so vegans, please don't lose your mind if he recommends butter or cheese now and again. Since Dave is also a "wanna-be wine snob" and co-hosts the Decanted Wine Podcast (www.decantedpodcast.com), food and wine pairing is an essential component of his lifestyle. Dave is also dedicated to the art of "Dad jokes," to the bemusement of everyone in his household.

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