Chickpea Flour Pie (aka Plant-Based Frittata) with Leftover Green Bean Stew

Categories : appetizers & savoury snacks, bread, pastry & savoury cakes, easy peasy, lent, main dishes, potatoes & vegetables, pulses & grains, Recipes, vegetarian or vegan

A super tasty crustless pie made with chickpea flour. Some might call it a plant-based frittata but for me it’s closer to a Greek “flour pie” (alevropita). I’ve filled it with leftover green bean stew (fasolakia), although you can use all sorts of cooked (or raw) vegetables that might be skulking in your produce drawer.

Have I told you how much I love dishes that can be made specifically to use up leftovers? (Haha ok, I think by now you get that I hate food waste.) A frittata is one such dish, originally made in Italy using leftover pasta. It’s made with eggs and is a fabulous way to use up scraps of cheese, veggies etc.

Chickpea Flour Pie (aka Plant-Based Frittata) with Leftover Green Bean Stew www.thefoodiecorner.gr Photo description: A round chickpea flour pie in a red earthenware baking dish on a wooden surface with dark burnt marks. The surface of the pie is deep golden, cracked from cooking, and decorated with cooked slices of tomato.

Nowadays I try and limit my consumption of eggs and dairy so I thought I would try out a plant-based version of frittata instead. I found many on Pinterest and they looked really good. They all seemed to have chickpea flour as their base so I got hold of some and went for it. So glad I did!

The chickpea flour is used to make a batter that is reminiscent of beaten eggs and if you can find some kala namak (black salt with sulphur) it is said that you get a bit of an eggy flavour too. When I made this version I hadn’t been able to find kala namak so I haven’t included it, but feel free to do so if you want. (It’s still delicious without it)

Chickpea Flour Pie (aka Plant-Based Frittata) with Leftover Green Bean Stew www.thefoodiecorner.gr Photo description: A black ceramic plate with a pretty pattern around the edge, and a slice of chickpea flour pie on it. The pie is decorated with slices of tomato on top which have cooked down while baking.

Now as far as the name is concerned, I am calling this a “flour pie” because sometimes I feel we aren’t doing these dishes a favour by giving them the names of their animal by-product based counterparts. If someone takes a bite of this expecting to taste some frittata they might be disappointed through no fault of the actual dish, which is in fact delicious. I prefer to title recipes in a way that doesn’t create unrealistic expectations and then give more info in the description.

Chickpea Flour Pie (aka Plant-Based Frittata) with Leftover Green Bean Stew www.thefoodiecorner.gr Photo description: a red baking dish with a pretty pattern on the inside. A slice has been removed and there are some green beans barely visible from the side inside the pie.

Anyway, back to the ingredients. I filled this pie with some leftover Greek green bean stew called Fasolakia (slow cooked green beans in tomato sauce), and in the past I’ve also used leftover briam. I have recipes for both these dishes in my book The Greek Slow Cooker and there are a couple of briam recipes here and here too. If you don’t have my book you can try some friends’ recipes for Fasolakia – I’ve mentioned them in the “Link Love” section below. (But if you have a slow cooker I do believe you’d like the book!) Anyway, just make sure you have enough leftovers! Of course this pie works with other add-ins such as sautéed spinach or mushrooms, frozen peas, lightly cooked broccoli or cauliflower, grated and squeezed courgettes (zucchini)… anything you have in your fridge and want to use up before it gets wasted! Be sure whatever you add isn’t too wet.

A fab “love your leftovers” dish if ever there was one. And it’s plant based too, so you’re doing your bit for the planet twofold!

Chickpea Flour Pie (aka Plant-Based Frittata) with Leftover Green Bean Stew www.thefoodiecorner.gr Photo description: A side view of a black ceramic plate with a pretty pattern around the edge, and a slice of chickpea flour pie on it. There are some green beans barely visible from the side inside the pie. In the background is a red baking dish.

Ingredients

180 gr (1 ½ cup) chickpea flour (finely ground chickpeas)

4 Tbs nutritional yeast

1 tsp dried thyme

1 tsp cumin powder

1 tsp turmeric powder

1 tsp sweet paprika

1 tsp curry powder

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp lemon pepper

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

60 ml (1/4 cup) olive oil + extra for greasing pan

360 ml (1 ½ cup) water (if your fasolakia has lots of juice separate it and include it in this amount)

2 cups fasolakia (Greek green bean stew, not too juicy)

1-2 tomatoes, medium-sized and sliced, or a handful of halved cherry tomatoes

Step 1

Using a whisk mix the chickpea flour, nutritional yeast, thyme, cumin, turmeric, sweet paprika, curry powder, garlic powder, salt, lemon and cayenne peppers in a large bowl.

Step 2

Add the olive oil and water, and whisk until you get a smooth runny batter. Set aside for 10 minutes.

Step 3

Preheat the oven to 190C conventional (170C fan assisted).

Step 4

Grease a 28cm round baking dish with the extra olive oil, add the fasolakia and spread them around evenly. Pour the batter over the top and tease with a fork so it runs to the bottom of the dish.

Step 5

Arrange a few tomato slices on top of the batter (or the cherry tomatoes, sliced side up) and bake for about one hour. The top should be a deep golden colour and have cracks.

Step 6

Let cool for a while and serve with a salad.

Notes:
- If your green bean stew has potatoes or other vegetables make sure they are cut into bite-sized pieces. The beans don’t have to be cut.
- You can use whatever you want in this pie, from cooked or sautéed veg to frozen peas or grated and squeezed courgettes (zucchini) etc. Let your imagination run wild, but keep an eye on the juices if there are any.

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