Chickpea purée

Serves 2 generously

(Lisa Barber)

Perfect to accompany a drink before the start of a meal, or it can be eaten as a part of many other small dishes as part of a mezze. Mezze is one of my favourite ways to eat: lots of little bits of this and that – grilled aubergine, pickled chillies, labne (a yoghurt cheese with a Middle Eastern heritage), feta, perfectly ripe tomatoes heavily drizzled with olive oil and on and on. The only utensil needed is warm, very thin unleavened bread to scoop it all up.

200g/7oz cooked chickpeas
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
The juice of half a lemon
1 bunch of mint leaves only, finely chopped
1 bunch of coriander, well washed and finely chopped
1 red chilli, deseeded and chopped
1 tbsp thick, Greek-style yoghurt
80ml/3fl oz fruity green olive oil
A good pinch of salt
1 tsp sweet paprika

Put the cooked chickpeas in a bowl, and mush roughly using the back of a fork until you have a coarse purée. Add the garlic, lemon juice, herbs, chilli and yoghurt and stir well to combine. Pour in the olive oil and add a good pinch of salt. Taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary. Spoon into a serving bowl, sprinkle over the paprika and serve.