Chickpea vegetarian burgers are a tasty and delightful alternative to meat or fish burgers. They are very easy and quite quick to make, especially if using pre-cooked chickpeas. They can be customized and enriched with various spices, served for a dinner with friends, as a snack to take to work, as a side dish, main course, or in your leisure time, etc. The dough of our burgers does not contain eggs; they have been, in fact, replaced by boiled potatoes that will help bind the mix. If we use gluten-free breadcrumbs, we will make this preparation suitable for everyone.
- Difficulty: Very Easy
- Cost: Affordable
- Rest time: 30 Minutes
- Preparation time: 15 Minutes
- Portions: 7
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All Seasons
Ingredients
- 18 oz cooked chickpeas
- 1 cup boiled potatoes
- to taste fine salt
- to taste extra virgin olive oil
- 2 leaves fresh sage (or a pinch of dried)
- 4 sprigs chives (or a pinch of dried)
- 1/2 teaspoon fresh rosemary needles (or dried)
- 1/4 fresh scallion
- to taste breadcrumbs (also gluten-free)
Steps
Boil the potatoes with their skins on and when cooked, peel them and cut them into chunks to cool them faster. After a few minutes, mash them perfectly with a fork until you get the smoothest puree possible.
Drain the chickpeas from the cooking water (or from the preservation liquid if using jarred ones) and rinse them well under running water to remove it completely. In the case of jarred chickpeas, you need to completely remove the foam that will form as you rinse them.
Put all the ingredients, including the spices, in the bowl of a mixer (except for breadcrumbs and mashed potatoes) and blend until you get a soft mixture that should not be too hard or liquid.
Now add the mashed potatoes and mix with a fork until they are perfectly incorporated with all the other ingredients.
If the mixture is too thick and hard, add, little by little, a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil until you get a soft and easy-to-work dough, even if sticky; on the contrary, if it is too soft, you can add the very finely chopped crumb of a slice of bread or a generous tablespoon of breadcrumbs and blend to incorporate everything.
Line a baking tray with parchment paper. Take a portion of dough (we decide the size of our burgers), roll it in plenty of breadcrumbs, shape it with your hands, and then place it on the tray.
Once all the burgers are formed, transfer the tray, covered with cling film, into the fridge for half an hour. Afterward, turn on the oven and set it to the highest temperature.
Take the burgers and brush them with a little extra virgin olive oil on one side, the one facing us.
Bake them on the lowest shelf for about 10 minutes, then lower the temperature to 392°F (200°C) and turn the burgers over to the other side, very carefully, to avoid breaking them as they are very hot.
Let them cook for another 5 minutes, and finally, turn off the oven. Do not prolong the cooking too much because we risk making them too dry on the outside.
Take them out of the oven and let the chickpea vegetarian burgers cool completely before enjoying them, accompanied by a rich and fresh salad.
Extra Tip. If we want to boil the chickpeas, just soak 9 oz (250 grams) in a large bowl with enough water (because the chickpeas will increase in volume) in which we have dissolved a level teaspoon of baking soda suitable for food use.
After twelve hours, discard the soaking water, rinse them very well under running water before cooking them in a large pot with plenty of clean water (if you want to flavor them, also add 1 carrot, 1 bay leaf, and 1/2 onion), until they are tender.
At that point, turn off the heat and add 1 level teaspoon of fine salt, stir well and let them cool.
