Christmas countdown: How about an appetizer?

The Christmas time's officially here. Are you getting ready, organizing a menu?
Me, not really, since I want be at home, but at my inlaws, I don't have much possibility to decide about what's going to be on Christmas table.
But the other week, we had some friends over for dinner, anticipating, sort of, Christmas dinner.
I didn't want to go too heavy on them, although I know that is in a way what everyone's expecting. And this was one of the appetizers I served that evening. I have to say, my friends all said it was really delicious and helped themselves several times, while my husband said it was "good, but sort of dietary, too light" ^__^
I guess I should suggest you to serve it for Christmas Eve dinner then.
I like how elegant and colourful this dish is. On the other hand I love chickpeas, it's my favourite legume, so for me, this dish is absolutely a winner, and not something I've made once and then forgotten all about it.
It may seem there's lots of work involved, but it's actually very simple, it won't take you more than half an hour to prepare it, and the great advantage is you get to prepare it in advance.
So, ready for the countdown?

Chickpea Pâte with Vegetables


500 g chickpeas (precooked)
1 shallot (or small onion)
2 carrots

2 zucchini

1 lime (juice)

extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper
(if necessary) a little vegetable stock

Drain the chickpeas from their liquid, rinse under running water and remove the skins (it's easy, just press each with two fingers and it will slip out of its skin).

Chop the shallot finely and sauté with 3 TBspoons of EVOO in a saucepan or skillet, adding a TBspoon of water, until soft.

Add the chickpeas and a little salt, and sauté for 3-4 minutes all together.
Add the lime juice, a little freshly ground pepper and 2 TBspoons of EVOO to the chickpeas and purée everything in a blender (or using a stick blender). If too dense, add a little warm vegetable stock (a TBspoon at a time) - the cream should be quite dense, so don't add too much.
Using a vegetable peeler (or a mandoline if you find it easier) cut one carrot and one zucchini into thin slices, lenghtwise.
Cut the remaining carrot and zucchini into sticks.



Cook the sliced vegetables first for 1-2 minutes in boiling, salted water, remove with a slotted spoon, put into a bowl with very cold water, then drain and dry with kitchen paper.
Repeat with the vegetables cut into sticks, cooking them for 3-4 minutes.
Line a regular loaf pan or two small ones with plastic foil first and then cover with vegetables, alternating the carrots and the zucchini, and leaving one part hanging over the edge.
Spread one part of the chickpea pâte on the bottom of the pan, distribute some vegetables cut into sticks over the chickpeas and continue in this way until you finish everything.



In the end close the hanging part of the vegetables over the patè and chill in the fridge for at least 6 hours.



Turn over on a serving plate, cut into slices and serve with bread (toasted if you prefer) or crackers.

Pâté di ceci e verdure

(tratto da Cucina Moderna, con piccole modifiche)

500 g di ceci precotti
1 scalogno
2 carote
2 zucchine
1 lime
olio extra vergine d'oliva
sale, pepe
(se necessario) un po' di brodo vegetale


Sgocciolate i ceci, sciacquateli sotto l'acqua corrente ed eliminate la pellicina bianca che li riveste.
Tritate lo scalogno e fatelo stufare in una padella antiaderente con 3 cucchiai di olio EVO e 1 cucchiaio di acqua calda. Unite i ceci e un pizzico di sale, e lasciateli insaporire per 3-4 minuti.
Aggiungete il succo di lime e un po' di pepe, un paio di cucchiai di olio EVO e frullate tutto per ottenere luna crema abbastanza densa. Se dovesse risultare troppo densa da frullare, aggiungete un pocchino di brodo tiepido (1 cucchiaio alla volta per non renderlo troppo liquido).
Tagliate una carota e una zucchian a nastri con il pelapatate. Scottate i nastri in acqua bollente salata per 1-2 minuti. Sgocciolate le verdure e fatele raffreddare in acqua molto fredda e poi fatele asciugare sulla carta assorbente.
Tagliate l'altra carota e zucchina a bastoncini, scottateli in acqua bollente salata per 3-4 minuti, sgocciolateli, raffreddateli in acqua fredda e poi asciugateli.
Foderate uno stampo da plumcake (io ho usato due stampi piccoli) con la pellicola trasparente, e poi con le verdure a nastri alternando zucchine e carote.
Versate uno strato di crema di ceci sul fondo dello stampo, fate uno strato con le verdure a bastoncino e procedete così fino a esaurire gli ingredienti.
Ripiegate i nastri di carote e zucchine verso l'interno e mettete la terrina in frigo per 6 ore.
Sformate il paté e servitelo con fettine di pane o crecker.




Ovu sam paštetu imala priliku poslužiti prijateljima kao hladno predjelo na predbožićnoj večeri prije dva vikenda. Zbilja su svi bili oduševljeni izgledom i okusom, a meni ostaje kao as u rukavu, kad poželim pripremiti nešto zbilja jednostavno i ukusno, a istovremeno elegantno i efektno, posebno kad su u pitanju svečane prigode poput Badnjaka i Nove godine. Naravno, muž se nije mogao oduprijeti primjedbi, da je ukusno, ali previše dijetetski. Njemu ionako nikad ugoditi ^__^
S ovim receptom sudjelujem u ovomjesečnom krugu igre Ajme koliko nas je, čiji je host ovaj mjesec Zoran, odabrao mrkvu i pastrnjak kao temu (pastrnjak mi je malo teže pronaći, ali zato mrkve imam u izobilju).
Pašteta od slanutka s povrćem


500 g kuhanog slanutka (iz konzerve)
1 luk ljutika (ili manja glavica običnog crvenog luka)
2 mrkve
2 tikvice
1 limeta
maslinovo ulje
sol i papar
(po potrebi) povrtnog temeljca


Ocijedite slanutak, isperite ga pod mlazom vode i skinite opnu (lako se skida, dovoljno je pritisnuti zrno s dva prsta i opna će se odvojiti).
Sitno nasjeckajte ljutiku (luk), i propirjajte ga s 3 žlice maslinovog ulja i žlicom tople vode na laganoj vatri (5-6 minuta).
Dodajte slanutak, posolite i propirjajte skupa 3-4 minute.
Smrvite mikserom u pire - dodajte 2 žlice maslinovog ulja, sok limete, malo svježe mljevenog papra i dotjerajte gustoću dodajući po potrebi par žlica povrtnog temeljca (krema treba ipak biti prilično čvsta).
Nožićem za guljenje povrća narežite 1 mrkvu i 1 tikvicu na tanke trake.
Skuhajte ih 1-2 minute u kipućoj, slanoj vodi. Izvadite ih rupičastom žlicom i odmah stavite u zdjelu s jako hladnom vodom, a onda dobro posušite na kuhinjskom papiru.
Duguljasti kalup obložite prvo prozirnom (plastičnom) folijom, a zatim naizmjenično trakicama mrkve i tikvice, ali tako da vam jedan dio ostane izvan kalupa (da možete zatvoriti na kraju).
Preostalu mrkvu i tikvicu narežite na štapiće i skuhajte 3-4 minute u kipućoj slanoj vodi, uronite ih u jako hladnu vodu, pa posušite na kuhinjskom papiru.
Stavite jedan dio kreme od slanutka na dno kalupa, pokrijte dijelom narezanog povrća, i dalje tako dok ne potrošite sve. Krema je gusta pa je nije lako razmazati, ali uz malo strpljenja i polako, može se.
Kad ste završili, savijte trakice mrkve i tikvice preko da zatvorite (to će vam kasnije biti dno).
Ostavite da se ohladi u hladnjaku barem 6 sati.
Izvrnite kalup na tanjur za posluživanje, odstranite foliju i narežite na kriške. Poslužite uz kruh (baguette) ili krekere.