Spicy chickpea and grilled paprika burger with a cucumber salad

There’s more to veggie burgers than beans and lentils. This meat-free option comes from chef Martin Nordins fantastic book green burgers. With his permission I’m able to share this recipe with you , but I have added lemon juice to the cucumber salad as a slight touch of sourness is my preference.

Chickpea burger

Makes 6 burgers

Ingredients

For the patty’s

3 red peppers

Olive oil

Sea salt and ground black pepper

500g cooked chickpeas

3 garlic cloves

2 eggs

1 tbsp smoked paprika

1 tbsp mild chilli powder

50g panko breadcrumbs

Rapeseed or peanut oil for frying

For the cucumber salad

1 bunch of dill

2 cucumbers

Zest and juice of 1 lemon

Sesame seeds

Olive oil

For the oven-baked onions

2 onions

2 tbsp butter

Olive oil

To serve

6 burger buns, buttered

Method
1 Preheat the grill to 250C/gas 7.

2 Halve and deseed the peppers. Put the peppers on a baking tray with the skins facing up and drizzle oil over them. Season, then grill until the skin is black. Remove the peppers and put in a plastic bag. When cool, remove the skin and chop into pieces.

3 Make the oven-baked onions: preheat the oven to 200C/gas 6. Peel and quarter the onions. Put them in an ovenproof dish, add the butter and drizzle the olive oil over them. Season. Bake the onions in the middle of the oven for 20-30 min or until they have developed some colour.

4 Rinse the chickpeas in cold water and drain them well in a colander.

5 Peel and finely chop the garlic. Lightly whisk the eggs in a food processor. Add the oven-baked onions, chickpeas, grilled peppers, paprika, chilli powder, panko breadcrumbs, garlic and salt. Pulse-blend to mix well.

6 Take a handful of mixture at a time and shape into 6 round patties. Put the patties in the fridge for at least an hour.

7 Preheat the oven to 180C/gas 4.

8 Take some sprigs of dill for the cucumber salad. Shave the cucumber lengthways using a vegetable peeler. Put the cucumber slices in a bowl and mix in the dill, lemon zest, juice, sesame seeds and some dill heads. Drizzle over a little olive oil and carefully turn the salad using your hands. Season to taste.

9 Heat a frying pan over a medium heat and pour in a little oil. Fry the patties for a few minutes on both sides, until they have a nice colour and a crispy surface. Transfer the patties to an ovenproof dish and bake for 5-10 min.

10 Fry the buttered buns in a frying pan.

11 Put a patty on the bottom half of each bun and top with the cucumber salad