Garlicky Chickpeas and Cavolo Nero

Creamy and good chickpeas cooked in garlic butter with Italian cavolo nero. This is such an easy and comforting side dish that's full of flavour and solid served with meat or fish.

This is a side dish that we make often in our house. We love to serve it with baked salmon or white fish for a quick weeknight meal, but it is so versatile that it will go with almost anything, such as roast chicken or pork chops.

It involves a lot of garlic, which is finely sliced and cooked slowly in butter and finished with a lot of freshly ground black pepper. It's so simple and so good!

Ingredient notes

• Chickpeas – We use jarred chickpeas for convenience; our favourites are Bold Bean Co or M&S jarred chickpeas if you're in the UK. We also love the Italian brands Valfrutta and Le Conserve della Nonna.
• Cavolo Nero – you can use any type of kale if you can't find cavolo nero or you can swap it for another veg such as green beans (chop them in half), broccolini or broccoli.
• Butter – We recommend using unsalted butter so you can control the amount of salt that is added.
• Garlic – We use a generous amount of garlic here, 4 large cloves in fact, but you can add as much or as little as you like.

Recipe tips

Cook the garlic slowly – cook the garlic on low in the butter and don't let it brown. If you feel it's browning too quickly, then you can add more butter or olive oil.

Cooking the cavolo nero – you can choose to boil or steam the cavolo nero (either is fine). We usually boil ours, then drain and squeeze out any excess water before adding to the chickpeas.

Can we prep this in advance?

Yes, you can reheat the chickpeas and cavolo nero in a pan on the stove with another drizzle of olive oil if needed.

Can we use olive oil instead?

Yes, you can saute the garlic in olive oil instead of butter for a lighter option. You can even add a knob of butter in at the end to add creaminess.

More Italian side dishes to try

Sides

Italian Green Beans In Tomato Sauce

Sides

Classic Gnocchi alla Romana

Sides

Patate alla Lucana (Italian Potato Gratin)

Sides

Peperoni Ammollicati (Peppers and Breadcrumbs)

Ingredients

Makes 4 servings

• 570 g (1.25 lbs) jarred chickpeas (drained and rinsed (400g/14oz drained weight))
• 100 g Cavolo nero (Tuscan kale) ((3.5oz))
• 80 g unsalted butter ((4 tablespoons))
• 4 large garlic cloves
• Salt and pepper

Method

1. Bring a pot of water to a boil and salt it well.

2. Meanwhile, trim the hardy middle stalks from the cavolo nero, wash it and roughly chop it. When the water is boiling, boil the cavolo nero for around 3-4 minutes until wilted. Drain in a sieve and set aside.

3. Finely slice the garlic cloves. Heat a pan on a low heat and add the butter. Once the pan has a thin coating of butter but is still melting, add the garlic. Keep the heat on low and gently cook the garlic in the butter for 10-12 minutes. You don't want the butter or garlic to brown.

4. Tip: if the garlic or butter starts to brown, you can add a touch more butter or a small drizzle of olive oil, but it's best to keep the heat down low to prevent this.

5. Once the garlic is soft, add the drained chickpeas and cavolo nero (give it a squeeze of any excess water before adding). Add a generous amount of black pepper and stir to coat in the garlic butter. Taste and add salt as needed then serve.

Kitchen notes

We use queen chickpeas for this, which is around 3 cups drained.