Foodie Fridays: Chickpeas and Dumplings

When it comes to comfort foods, chicken and dumplings is right there at the top of the list.  But when I saw the recipe for Chickpeas and Dumplings on the How Sweet Eats website, I had a feeling I had found a dish I might just enjoy even more.  It turns out I was not mistaken - this recipe is fantastic!  I made a few minor changes, replacing butter with canola oil and using vegetable instead of chicken stock.  I also left out the fresh herbs (which I did not have) and used dried fines herbes instead.  Any herb blend such as Italian seasoning or herbes de Provence would probably work, but fines herbes is my favorite dried herb blend (it can be hard to find but if you want to try it you can find one brand on Amazon here).  I even managed to stretch out the dumpling batter to make 13 dumplings instead of 12 so that I could split the extra one to give to my dogs, because comfort food is meant for sharing.  They loved it, of course, just as much as I loved this recipe!

Chickpeas and Dumplings

Herbed Dumplings:
1 C. flour (I used white whole wheat)
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. poultry seasoning
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/2 C. buttermilk

3 T. vegetable oil
1 small onion, diced
2 carrots, peeled and diced
2 celery stalks, diced
1 T. fines herbes
salt and pepper to taste (I used 1 tsp. salt and just a dash of pepper)
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 T. flour
3-4 C. chicken or vegetable stock
1 can (15 oz.) chickpeas, drained and rinsed (or use 2 C. diced cooked chicken)
1/4 C. heavy cream

Make the dumpling batter: Whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and poultry seasoning in a medium-sized bowl.  Combine the milk and egg, then stir into the flour mixture until just combined.  Set aside..

Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat.  Stir in the onion, carrots, celery, and fines herbes.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Cook until the vegetables soften, about 5 minutes, then add the garlic and cook one minute longer.

Stir the 3 T. flour into the pot, coating the vegetables to create a roux.  Cook, stirring often, for 1-2 minutes, making sure it does not burn (add a bit of stock if it gets too dry).  Slowly stream in 3 C. stock, stirring constantly.  Cook for another 5 minutes, letting the mixture come to a low boil (it should thicken a bit).  Stir in the chickpeas and cream.  The mixture should be lightly bubbling over medium heat.  Taste and season with more salt and pepper if needed.

Drop about 12 spoonfuls of the dumpling batter into the soup.  Cook for 7 minutes, then flip the dumplings and cook them for 7 minutes more.  Add a little more stock if the stew seems too thick.  If the mixture comes to a full boil, decrease the heat while simmering the dumplings.  Spoon the stew into four bowls and top each serving with three dumplings.  Serves 4.