Italian-American Chana Masala

That’s right, you heard me. This is probably the best improvised dish I’ve ever made.   I had some very nice, very sweet tomatoes from Pike Market (where does that vendor get tomatoes that good in December?), mushrooms, celery and green onions.  My newly-stocked pantry is loaded with chick peas.  I thought I wanted to make a pasta primavera, but then, the chick peas don’t really fit, and I’ve got this baguette that’s gonna turn into a rock so pasta isn’t really the right idea and…

Calorie Estimate: 750

Ingredients

• 5 plum tomatoes, quartered
• as much mushroom by volume as tomato
• 1 stalk celery, 1/8″ slices
• 2 green onions, 1/4″ slices
• 1 15 oz can chick peas
• 2 T olive oil
• anchovy fillets (about 1 oz)
• garlic powder to taste
• salt to taste
• black pepper (lots! chick peas love black pepper)
• red pepper
• italian herb blend

Preparation

1. Heat the oil over medium heat in a large skillet.  Add the chopped mushrooms and let them cook a couple minutes.  While the mushrooms get going, slice the celery and green onions.
2. Add celery and green onions to the pan.  Quarter the tomatoes and add them to the pan.
3. Add the anchovy fillets.  Break them down with your stirring spoon and mix them thoroughly through.  These provide a lot of savoriness, but don’t actually make the dish taste like anchovies unless you use too many.
4. Add the rinsed chick peas.
5. Season to taste.  Salt generously and use lots of black pepper.  For chick peas, I like to be able to see flecks of black pepper on the beans in the finished product.  I also realized garlic couldn’t hurt, but it was too late in the game, so I added a little garlic powder.  Any aromatic herbs will probably work, but the standard basil, parsley, oregano mix was just right.  And I like a little heat, so some red pepper flakes round it out.
6. Cook a few minutes until the peas are fully warmed and any liquid has thickened up and brought the dish together.

The flavor here was excellent: deep, warming, and very satisfying, especially served with that baguette.  The eating experience really was like a chana masala and so, the name!