Chickpea Stock
If you find yourself wondering why soups and sauces at restaurants taste so much better than the ones you make at home, it’s probably because restaurants use house-made stock. Stock is the foundation of a dish, and particularly good stock can be the jumping-off point that takes a home-cooked meal to the next level. This is a wonderful, versatile stock that happens to be vegetarian. Perfect for Date-Night Risotto with Crab or Chickpea Minestrone, Genovese Style (this page), this stock, in particular, can also be widely used in place of water for just about any recipe to add complexity of flavor. This recipe also leaves you with 4 cups of cooked chickpeas. I recommend using them for the Raw Fava, Chickpea & Tahini Hummus
Ingredients
Makes about 8 cups stock and 4 cups chickpeas
- 2 cups dried chickpeas
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 pieces star anise
- 4 sprigs thyme
- 1 head garlic bottom root trimmed, head halved horizontally, skin on
- 1 teaspoon black peppercorns
- 1 medium white onion halved
- 2 carrots ends discarded and peeled
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- Salt
Instructions
- It helps to know: This stock sits overnight and requires cheesecloth.
- In a large pot, immerse the chickpeas in water and soak for 2 hours.
- Alternatively, you can soak overnight, but decrease the cook time to around 1 hour in total so as not to overcook the chickpeas.
- Drain the chickpeas and discard the water.
- Wrap the bay leaf, star anise, thyme, garlic, and peppercorns in cheesecloth and tie shut with string to make a sachet.
- In a large pot on high heat, bring the chickpeas and 10 cups water to a simmer.
- The pot will form a scum resembling soap suds.
- Skim off the scum and turn the heat to low.
- Add the onion, carrots, herb sachet, and sugar and bring the stock back to a simmer.
- After 45 minutes, stir in a couple pinches of salt.
- Avoid the temptation to add salt at the beginning because this toughens the skin of the chickpeas.
- Continue to simmer, uncovered, until the chickpeas have cooked through, about 45 minutes more.
- The chickpeas are finished when they no longer taste dry but still retain some of their texture.
- Remove the pot from the heat, cover, and let the chickpeas cool completely in their broth, ideally overnight.
- This allows the final extraction of flavor, and the result will merit the extra time.
- Remove the herb sachet, carrots, and onions and discard.
- Strain the chickpeas over a large bowl to reserve the stock.
- Both the stock and the chickpeas can be used immediately or stored separately in airtight containers in the freezer for up to 3 months.