Tapas-Style Baked Chickpea Fries

My go-to recipe for a healthy snack that feels decidedly naughty.

The first time I tried chickpea fries, it was from a recipe in Jenny Rosenstrach’s excellent cookbook, Dinner: A Love Story (one of my all-time favorite guides to feeding a family). It was 2012, and I was fresh out of culinary school and experimenting with lots of new-to-me foods. I was instantly hooked: they’re the perfect marriage of carbs and protein, a simple, healthy ingredient list, relatively easy to make and family-friendly.

It turns out that chickpea fries have long been a popular street snack in Southern France, where they’re called panisse; the same batter is also used to make a crispy, savory pancake cut into crisp wedges called socca in France, faina in Argentina and Uruguay, and farinata in Italy. So, in short, all of my favorite culinary destinations all enjoy this delicious food, with slight variations - a true global comfort food.

If you’re an unapologetic French-fry lover like me, I think you’ll agree that chickpea fries are a very satisfying alternative. When baked, they’re slightly crispy on the outside, and soft and custardy on the inside. You can season them a hundred different ways; I opted to give them a Spanish tapas flair here with a dusting of smoked paprika, cumin and garlic. They’d be the perfect addition to a tapas-style menu, or just eaten on their own with some marinara sauce for dipping, or lightly drizzled with fresh herb salsa verde, if you’re feeling crazy.