Revithia, a vegetarian recipe from Greece

Name: Revithia
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 120 min
Total time: 135 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Greece
Ingredients: 400 g dried chickpeas; 3 large onions; 100 ml extra virgin olive oil; 2 sprigs rosemary; 2 bay leaves; Juice of 1½ lemons; 1½ tsp salt; Black pepper; Extra olive oil and lemon, to serve

Method

Soak the chickpeas for 12 hours in plenty of cold water, then drain and rinse them.
Slice the onions into thin half-moons and spread them across the bottom of an earthenware or cast-iron pot.
Add the chickpeas, rosemary, bay, olive oil and enough water to cover by two centimetres.
Cover and bake at 170°C for 1 hour 30 minutes without salt, checking halfway that there is still enough liquid.
Season with salt and pepper, then cook uncovered for a further 30 minutes so the top colours and the broth thickens.
Fish out the rosemary and bay, stir in the lemon juice and rest for 10 minutes before serving with more oil poured over.

On Sifnos this cooked overnight in the village baker’s oven in a clay pot, ready for Sunday lunch. The lemon only goes in once the chickpeas are tender: its acidity, not the salt, is what would stop them softening.

The techniques this recipe uses

Drain and rinse
Canning liquid clouds a sauce and salts it blind: rinse until the water runs clear.
Reduce
Uncovered, water leaves and flavour concentrates. It is done when the sauce coats the back of a spoon.

Frequently asked questions

Why add the salt only at the end?

So you can judge it, since the broth reduces during the final half hour uncovered. Salt does not firm up the chickpea skins: in the soaking water it actually softens them. What would hold them back is the lemon, which is why it only goes in once they are tender.

Can I use tinned chickpeas?

It would no longer be the same dish: the long bake is what melts the onions and builds the thick broth. With pre-cooked chickpeas you would have to cut the time sharply, and you would get neither that texture nor that depth.

The liquid has nearly gone partway through, what should I do?

Top up with hot water to cover again. How much is absorbed varies with the age of the chickpeas and how tightly the pot is sealed, which is why the recipe has you check halfway. The final uncovered half hour, by contrast, is meant to reduce the broth.

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Revithia

Method

The techniques this recipe uses

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Nutrition per serving

Frequently asked questions

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