Falafel Pie

For this trial, I used canned chickpeas for the falafel crust.  For the few times I have made falafel, I have always used dried chickpeas that had been soaked over night.   I was afraid that the texture would be too mushy with the canned peas, but I wanted to see how it would work out.  They worked out fine, and the dish was delicious.  I'll make this again.  However, I prefer dried chickpeas over canned for falafel.

Since I decided to use a roasted garlic hummus, I reduced the number of garlic cloves in the falafel by half.  I also  used a bit more parsley and cilantro than called for in the recipe.  I didn't have white pepper or cayenne, so I seasoned the sauce simply with ground black pepper. 

*If you double the sauce recipe (as I did because I love the sauce), be sure not to drizzle all of it on the pie or it will make the falafel soggy.  I doubled the sauce recipe, strained the yogurt in cheesecloth, spread it all on the pie, and topped it with extra chopped cucumbers.  The center did get a bit soggy, so keep the moisture factor for the yogurt and cucumbers in mind.

I used the Falafel Pie recipe posted on the blog Heat Oven to 350.  

Falafel Pie

1 cup dried chickpeas (or about 2 cans of chickpeas, drained and rinsed)

1/2 large onion, roughly chopped

2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley

2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh cilantro

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon dried hot red pepper

4 cloves of garlic

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon baking powder

4 - 6  tablespoons flour

vegetable oil

Topping

1/2 cup chopped  tomato

1 large chopped cucumber, peeled and seeds removed

1/2 cup Kalamata or black olives

3/4 cup hummus

Cucumber Sauce (see recipe below)

Directions:

Put the chickpeas in a large bowl and add enough cold water to cover them by at least 2 inches. Let soak overnight, then drain. (Skip this step if using canned chickpeas)

Heat oven to 375 degrees.

Place the drained, uncooked chickpeas and the onion half in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Add the parsley, cilantro, salt, hot pepper, garlic, and cumin. Process until blended but not pureed. (Watch for over-processing with canned chickpeas)

Sprinkle in the baking powder and 4 tablespoons of the flour, and pulse. You want to add enough flour so that the dough can form a small ball. Add extra flour if necessary.

Liberally oil the bottom of 1 or 2  9" pie pans. (If you want an extra thick layer of falafel, use just a single pie pan.  Add the falafel mix into the pie pan(s) and pat it down until it is uniformly flat.   Brush the top of the falafel with more oil. Bake just until the top appears dry and  the falafel is firm to the touch, about 15-17 min if using 2 pie pans and  20-23 min if using one.

Top falafel with hummus, cucumbers and tomatoes. Drizzle with cucumber sauce and sprinkle with chopped olives. Serve.

Cucumber Sauce

1 cup plain yogurt 

1/4 cucumber, peeled with seeds scooped out

1 clove garlic, crushed

1/2 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Salt and pepper, to taste

Pinch ground cayenne pepper (optional)

Directions:

Grate cucumber with a box grater set over several layers of paper towels. Using the paper towels, squeeze out excess water from the cucumber.

Add cucumber to the rest of the ingredients in a small bowl and mix well. Refrigerate if not using immediately.