Chickpea Pumpkin Burgers

Two little pumpkins, too many recipes was I tempted by. For a few weeks the pretty little squashes graced my kitchen table while I imagined the occasion for their sacrifice. The carving knife was finally brought out after I saw Helen's Pumpkin and Chickpea Burgers. While pumpkin butchering is a rather laborious experience, the yield is worth the effort: a few cups of flesh stashed away in the freezer, and roasted pumpkin seeds, scrumptious patties and wholesome pumpkin scones were offered up this past weekend. Certainly a cure for the onset of the winter blues.

I don't recall pairing chickpeas with pumpkin before, but after tasting this vegetarian burger, I now know what I was missing. Modified somewhat from Helen's original recipe, I served these with a slice of rye bread coated with caraway seeds, and my Classic Tomato Chutney, which I also changed by adding soaked sun-dried tomatoes.

This is also my submission to Weekend Herb Blogging, hosted this week by Siri.

Chickpea Pumpkin Burgers

3/4 cup of dried chickpeas (2 cups cooked)
1 1/3 cups of roasted or cooked pumpkin
1/2 teaspoon of ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon of ground coriander
dash of cayenne
1 small onion, chopped
1 clove of garlic, minced
1 jalapeno pepper, chopped
1 egg
1/2 cup of chickpea flour
1/2 - 2/3 cup of bread crumbs
generous handful of fresh basil and parsley, chopped
sea salt and black pepper to taste

Soak the chickpeas in enough water to cover overnight. Drain, transfer to a pot, cover with fresh water, bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low and cover and cook until the chickpeas are soft - roughly 1 hour. Drain and set aside.

To roast the pumpkin, preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Place chucks of the pumpkin flesh on a baking sheet and brush generously with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt and black pepper. Cook until the pumpkin can be easily pierced with a fork (roughly 20 - 30 minutes). Transfer to a bowl and mash.

Put the pumpkin in a food processor, along with the chickpeas, spices, onion, garlic, jalapeno pepper, egg and herbs and process until smooth. Transfer to a bowl. Stir in the chickpea flour and enough bread crumbs until the mixture is moist but thick and dry enough to shape into patties. Stir in the salt and pepper.

In a large non-stick pan, heat a shallow pool of olive oil over medium heat. Fry the patties until golden on each side (roughly 3 - 5 minutes per side). Drain on paper towels and serve warm.

Serves 4-6.