Chickpea and Pumpkin Fritters with Preserved Lemon Aioli
It's almost impossible not to notice the giant displays of colourful gourds in every grocery store this time of year. Their knobby, warped looks remind me of cantankerous old men. They stare at me cynically, knowing I'm never sure what to make of them, or with them, more accurately. In my farmers market box a few weeks ago I was given a Delicata squash. I only know the name thanks to Google. Slightly bigger than a large yam, this Delicata is cream coloured with dark green ribs running horizontally. He spent a week sitting on my counter and another week in my fridge. I figured it was about time his little grumpy gourd life served a purpose. Inspired by a recipe from Healthy Happy Life, Mr. Grumpy Gourd joined some chickpeas and became a fritter.
These fritters are super soft, sweet from the squash, crispy from the panko and mildly spicy from the cayenne. The smoked paprika adds a wintery warmth while the kale adds delicate flecks of vibrant green. I hesitate to call these healthy, only because I usually associate healthy food with food that doesn't taste great. These taste great.
The preserved lemon aioli brings a brings a bright tang to the table. If you've never made aioli before, fear not, it is very very easy to make. You can start it when you put the fritters in the pan, and you'll be finished before they are ready. If it's your first time making an aioli, and you're feeling a little unsure, make it first so the fritters don't accidentally burn while you're concentrating on whipping egg yolks and oil into velvet.
You can make a lot of substitutions with these fritters, and they'll turn out each time. Any squash can be used or replaced with canned pumpkin or even a sweet potato or yam. Spinach or chard would work in place of the kale and sunflower, hemp or even chai seeds can replace the sesame seeds. While I ate these for dinner, I can envision them made into bite-sized fritters and topped with a touch of the preserved lemon aioli and served at a party.
Chickpea and Pumpkin Fritters with Preserved Lemon Aioli
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Prep Time: 10 mins
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Cook Time: 10 mins
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Total Time: 20 minutes
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Yield: 2 servings 1x
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Category: Dinner
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Method: Stovetop
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Cuisine: North American
Description
Crispy on the outside, soft inside, and delicious all around. You'll love these chickpea and pumpkin fritters!
Ingredients
Fritters:
- 1 1/2 cups pumpkin (either canned or roasted)
- 1 – 14-ounce can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 1/3 cup toasted sesame seeds
- 1/4 cup ground flax seeds (can sub 1 egg)
- 2 large cloves garlic, finely minced
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 2 teaspoons sea salt
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 cup minced kale
- 1 1/4 cup panko (sub gluten-free breadcrumbs, if needed)
Aioli:
- 1/4 cup mayonnaise (vegan, if needed)
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- Optional: 1 teaspoon preserved lemons
Instructions
Fritters:
- Add chickpeas, squash, egg, and apple cider vinegar to a food processor and process till smooth.
- Add garlic, kale, sesame seeds, smoked paprika, cayenne, and salt and process till combined
- Form 8 small patties and coat in breadcrumbs or panko. Fry in a pan, turning once, till golden on each side
Aioli:
- Mix together the mayonnaise, lemon juice, and (if using) the preserved lemon.
Notes
If you don’t have a food processor, use a potato masher to combine the chickpeas and pumpkin. The result will be chunkier. When making the aioli make sure the egg yolks are at room temperature and be sure to add the lemon juice before the oil. Cold yolks + no lemon juice = aioli that won’t thicken. I know from experience These can easily be made a day ahead and refrigerated till you are ready to fry them. The leftover aioli, in the unlikely event that you have any, will last in your fridge for up to 3 days. If the fritters are a little too moist, add some more breadcrumbs. If they seem too dry, add an extra egg.
Your recipe says: “Breadcrumbs or panko2 egg yolks” , and the Aioli has no egg yoke listed in the ingredients… I’m guessing the 2 egg yolks got stuck in the wrong place? I hope so, because that’s what I plan to do…:-)
Thanks for the recipe, it looks great!
~Red~
Typo! Yes, there’s supposed to be one egg in the fritters and the other for the aioli. Thanks for pointing that out!
Is it just me or does anybody else notice that the ingredients call for 2 TBS of apple cider vinegar, yet the vinegar is not mentioned anywhere in the recipe? Does the recipe actually call for ACV or should that be an outright omission? I wish I had noticed this before I started cooking these tonight! Hope no ACV isn’t a huge issue. Eek!
Hi Jess,
Thank you so much for pointing that out! I’ve just corrected it. I hope they turned out great even without the vinegar in them.
I can not wait to make these! So simple and tasty sounding and yes I think you could call them “healthy”!
Let me know how you like them when you make them! I made some tiny ones, took a little piece of kale, put aioli on it and then the fritter on top. Then I ate the whole thing, kale and all. It was really good that way!
They turned out great. Had to add some bread crumbs because they were a bit too wet but they turned out amazing (the lemon ailoi I ate by the spoonfull on top)! I also made the cherry tomatoes with basil and garlic and had them on the side for dinner and they were also so amazing I wish I had made more!
That is so great! So happy they turned out so well!! Going to make a note about the breadcrumbs in the post just in case anyone else has the same problem 🙂