Babbo chickpea bruschetta

July 25, 2013 at 11:45 am (B plus (3 stars, like a lot), Beans, Derek's faves, Italian)

We were trying to think of a quick appetizer that would work well with a summer squash, basil, tomato pasta salad.  I suggested a chickpea salad and Derek instead suggested making chickpea bruschetta.  He’s had the dish several times at Babbo in NYC and always liked it. He didn’t follow the recipe amounts too carefully and he used minced garlic instead of sliced and chopped kalamata olives instead of tapenade. Nonetheless, he said it tasted quite similar to the “real thing.”  The rosemary was essential, as without it the chickpeas seemed just a little one note.  I thought that a dash of cumin would be nice as well, but Derek didn’t want to risk messing up a perfectly nice recipe.  Next time!