With this last cold weather where we seemed to be trying to set records for low temperatures it seemed like a good time to do some oven cooking that could help keep things warm.

This recipe comes to me from my good friend David; it’s from Vefa’s Kitchen. That’s  one of the great things about FaceBook–sharing “food porn”  with friends.

Ingredients

2-1/4 cups of garbanzos, soaked overnight
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
2 large onions, sliced thinly
1 teaspoon black peppercorns
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped (optional–but not to me!)
2/3 cup extra virgin olive oil (I use a nice Greek one)
course sea salt
freshly squeezed lemon juice, to serve

Preparation

• Drain and rinse the garbanzos and put them into an ovenproof casserole dish ( David uses a large Spanish cazuela with lid; I use a Romertopf).
• Sprinkle with the flour and stir.
• Put the onions into a bowl, pour water to cover, and let soak for one hour, then drain (this makes them sweeter and remove their “bite”).
• Preheat oven to 300˚F (150˚C/Gas Mark 2).
• Stir the onions into the garbanzos together with the peppercorns, garlic, and oil.
• Season with salt.
• Pour in water to cover.
• Cover the casserole dish tightly.
• Bake for 7 to 10 hours, until all of the liquid is evaporated. (David says in his oven that takes about 9 hours.)
• Serve hot or at room temperature, sprinkled with a generous amount of fresh lemon juice.

It’s a main with a salad, but these are SO good with the Portuguese lamb stew that I made. This also freezes well if you want to make a big batch to have on hand.

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