Chickpea Stuffed Pitas With Sundried Tomato Pesto

These chickpea stuffed pitas with sundried tomato pesto are a delicious lunch or even dinner recipe. The sundried tomato pesto is made up of a few ingredients and lots of fresh basil, and the stuffed pitas are dipped in a delicious cilantro lime yogurt sauce. The dish is oil-free, gluten-free, and can be made nut-free as well (see notes).

Prep time: 5 minutes

Cook time: 12 minutes

Servings: 2

Ingredients

• 3 cloves of garlic
• 1 tbsp olive oil, for frying (see notes for oil-free)
• 1 can of chickpeas (540mL)
• Pita bread (gluten-free if needed)

Pesto

• 1/2 cup sundried tomatoes (about 140mL)
• 1 generous handful of basil leaves (about 1/2 cup)
• 2 tbsp roasted unsalted cashews
• 1 1/2 tsp sunflower seeds
• 1/2 lemon (about 1 1/2 tbsp lemon juice)
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 tsp salt

Cilantro Lime Sauce

• 1/4 cup Greek plant-based yogurt
• 1/4 lime (about 1 tsp lime juice)
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 4-5 stems of cilantro
• Pinch of salt

Equipment

• Frying pan
• Blender

Instructions

1. Peel 5 cloves of garlic. Set 2 cloves aside for the pesto, then mince the other 3.
2. Add olive oil to a pan on medium heat (see notes for oil-free). Add the minced garlic, keeping an eye on it and stirring occasionally.
3. While the garlic is frying, prepare the pesto.
4. To a blender, add sundried tomatoes, basil leaves, cashews, sunflower seeds, lemon juice, 2 garlic cloves, water, and salt. Blend until smooth and creamy (see notes on what type of blender I like using for creamy sauces like this one!), adding 1-2 tbsp more water if needed.
5. Drain and rinse a can of chickpeas. As the garlic starts to turn golden, add the chickpeas to the pan (stand back slightly from the pan to avoid burning yourself, as the chickpeas are slightly wet).
6. Add the pesto to the chickpeas and mix well.
7. Prepare the cilantro lime sauce by mixing together plant-based yogurt, lime juice, garlic powder, and salt. Roughly chop cilantro, then mix into the sauce.
8. Remove the chickpeas from heat and stuff them into pita halves. Optionally, you can fry the pitas in a non-stick frying pan to get them slightly crunchy on the outside.
9. Serve the pitas with the cilantro lime yogurt sauce and enjoy!

Notes

*For a nut-free version of the sundried tomato pesto, substitute sunflower seeds for cashews in the sauce (total 2 1/2 tbsp sunflower seeds).

*Depending on the strength of your blender, you may need to soak cashews in boiling water before blending. I find the best blender for cashews is a bullet blender (you won’t need to do any soaking!).

*If storing leftovers, store the chickpeas in a container. When you’re ready to eat them, add them to a pita, then fry on both sides and enjoy!