Recipe: Original Sifnos Chickpea Stew (Revithada) in a...
The signature dish of the island...
Eggplant with chickpea casserole
© Giorgos Drakopoulos / Food styling: Tina Webb, Alice Bean, Alexandra Tasounidou
Chef: Nena Ismyrnoglou
Preparation & Cooking time: 80'
Serves: 4
The Tsakoniki eggplant, a beautiful elongated variety with a vibrant light purple skin and white streaks, is unique to the region of Messinia and can be hard to find out of season. This dish can be served as a starter or a main course.
Drain the chickpeas that have been soaking overnight and rinse thoroughly with cold water. Place in a large saucepan and cover with water (no salt), boiling over medium heat for 40 minutes until they start to soften, adding a tbsp of salt at the last minute. Drain, keeping 1 cup of the liquid, and set aside.
In the meantime, cut the eggplants into 2 cm cubes. Soak in a bowl of cold salted water for 30 minutes so they don’t absorb too much oil when cooking. In a broad saucepan, heat the olive oil over high heat and lightly sauté the garlic for 1 minute at most. Add the onions for 2 minutes, then the tomatoes, salt and pepper, and cook for another 5 minutes, stirring with a wooden spoon. Drain the eggplants, gently squeezing out the excess liquid by hand, and add to the sauce.
Mix once and add the chickpeas with ½ cup of the water in which they were cooked. When it comes to the boil, reduce heat to medium, cover and cook for 20-30 minutes until the chickpeas are soft. If the mixture starts drying out, add more of the cooking water.
Remove from the heat, mix in the herbs and serve.
The signature dish of the island...
The Roussos family has long been...
One of the most impressive canyons...