Jumbo Italian Spiced Chickpea Burgers

Wednesday 2 October 2013



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I do confess that I enjoy a great veggie burger from time to time.  Back home where I am from there is this restaurant in town called Pasta Jax and they make the best Barley Burgers I have ever eaten.   I  wish I knew how they made them because I miss that occasional indulgence over here!

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The people at Fage recently asked me if I would like to particpate in their 7-day #TryTotal Challenge.  I happily agree for a couple of reasons.  One because I love a good challenge and two because I adore Total Greek Yoghurt.  It's my favourite of all yoghurts!  So rich and thick and creamy good!

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My challenge pack actually arrived on Sunday when I was at church.  It included a tasty recipe a pretty much everything I needed for the challenge, with the exception of some tomatoes, the lettuce and a bit of oil.

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The recipe was for these delicious chickpea burgers.   As I said I do enjoy a tasty veggie burger once in a while.   These were lovely and moist, probably due to the inclusion of yoghurt in the mix, and classic Med flavours like sundried tomato paste, garlic, fresh basil and a bit of heat from some chilli flakes.

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What really made them as well was this creamy lucious yoghurt dressing that you make to spoon over top of the cooked veggie patties.  Filled with chopped olives and red onions and basil, it was incredibly tasty!

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They were sooooooo good.  Todd didn't even miss the meat.   They were huge too!  A real mouthfulto say the least.  I think I will make these often.  I think I would love them even without the bun actually.  They would make a nice sub for meat in any meal, just on their own without the buns.  I hope that you will try them. I just know you would love them!

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*Jumbo Italian Spiced Chickpea Burgers*
Serves 4
A fabulous recipe from Total Greek Yogurt, making four very big and tasty burgers with a wonderfully tasty sauce!  Serve with or without the buns.  These really are good! 

For the burgers:
4 TBS Greek yogurt, classic Total
75g of bread, torn, or made into crumbs
(about 1 slice)
2 X 400g tins of chickpeas, drained (garbanzo beans)
25g bunch of basil (one very generous handful)
3 TBS sundried tomato paste
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed
pinch chili flakes
salt and pepper
Oil for frying 

To serve:
125g of Total Greek Yogurt, Classic (about 1 cup)
75g of black olives sliced (about 1/2 cup)
1 small red onion, peeled and thinly sliced
4 ciabatta rolls  

Put the bread into a food processor and qhire to make crumbs.   Add the chicpeas, basil (reserve a large sprig for later), tomato paste, yogurt, garlic and chilli.  Season with some salt and pepper, and blitz until everything is well chopped and coarse.  Shape into 4 large patties. 

Spray a large nonstick frying pan with some sunflower oil. Heat over medium heat.  Add the patties and cook for 5 minutes per side, until each is deep golden brown and piping hot. 

Meanwhile, chop the reserved basil and mix with the olives, onion and yoghurt.   Set aside.
Split and toast your ciabatta rolls.  Add a few salad leaves and tomato slices to the bottom of each.  Top each with a hot burger and then some of the yogurt sauce mixture.  Serve immediately. 

Many thanks to Total Greek Yoghurt for inviting me to participate in this challenge!

10 comments

  1. Now you are speaking my language! I am definitely making myself some of these.

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  2. I think you'll love them Tracey! They were really nice!

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  3. I love veggie burgers. Here's a link for barley burgers Marie. Sounds delicious.
    http://canadaam.ctvnews.ca/recipes/alberta-cooking-classics-all-in-one-dish-barley-beef-and-beer-1.1360886

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  4. Fantastic!
    Mary x

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  5. These look lovely Marie! My grand-daughter Sofia is a veggie so I'll have to give this recipe to Rhiannon to try. I'm sure the rest of the family would like it to. Do you think the burgers could be frozen?

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  6. I'm not sure if they could be frozen or not Pat. What I would do is to freeze a small portion and then see what happens.

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  7. Veggie doesn't bother me but the hubby is a declared meat-a-tarian. He says a vegetarian means "bad Hunter".

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  8. The Toddster is a meat and potatoes kind of a guy too Ramona, but he did enjoy these!

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  9. Wowee zowee these look delicious! They remind me of falafel, which I have only had once, but LOVED. And Faje is my favorite greek yogurt too! I always have some on hand. These "burgers" are making me hungry...

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  10. These sounded most inviting, so of course I had to give them a go. I always have chickpeas at home and so it was easy to whip them up. I liked the addition of sundried tomato paste to give some added flavour. I used panko crumbs instead of the bread and I also upped the chili a bit plus added some cayenne pepper as we both like a little heat.

    I decided to bake these instead of frying them and that worked well. They are probably tastier fried, but we have to watch what we eat at our age. I preheated the oven to 190*C (375*F), then sprayed a baking tray with cooking oil spray. I put the patties onto the baking tray, drizzled a little oil on each one and baked for 20 minutes, turned them, drizzled a little more oil and baked another 20 minutes.

    The yogurt sauce was delicious. I didn't eat them in a bun as I find hamburgers very messy. Instead we had them as patties and I served them in warmed pita bread with a tossed Mediterranean salad.

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