AVOCADO + CHICKPEA AREPAS
PREP TIME
1 hour
COOK TIME
35 mins
TOTAL TIME
1 hour 35 mins
A light and healthy filling of chickpeas + avocado stuffed into a warm arepa. A great Vegetarian arepa filling!
Author: Jeni Hernandez
Recipe type: Entree
Cuisine: Latin
Serves: 6
INGREDIENTS
For the Chickpeas + Avocado
- 2 Large Avocado, roughly diced
- 2 Tablespoons Vegan Mayonnaise
- 1 Tablespoons Lime Juice
- 1 15 Once Can Chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- ½ Red Bell Pepper, seeded and diced small
- ½ Japapeno, seeded and finely minced
- 2-3 Tablespoons Red Onion, finely diced
- 1 Small Garlic Clove, finely minced
- 3 Tablespoons Cilantro, finely chopped
- ½ Tsp Sea Salt, or to taste
- Freshly Ground Black Pepper, to taste
For Arepas
- 2 Cups Warm Water
- 1 Tsp Salt
- 2 Cups P.A.N. Corn Flour
- ½ Cup additional warm water, if needed
- Vegetable Oil
INSTRUCTIONS
For the filling:
- In a mixing bowl add the diced avocado, vegan mayonnaise, and lime juice. Mix with a fork until the avocado is nice and creamy. Add in the drained chickpeas and mash with a fork. You just want to break the chickpeas apart; it is ok to leave some of the chickpea whole.
- Add the rest of the filling ingredients. Gently combine the ingredients together. Taste and adjust seasonings. Add more salt or lime juice if needed.
- Place in the fridge. Chill until ready to use. I recommend at least 1 hour of chill time. A few hours is even better.
For the arepas:
- In a large mixing bowl, add the warm water and salt. Gradually start to add the P.A.N. corn flour. Knead the dough with your hands until it comes together. You want the dough to be really moist. If it starts to crack, add in a little of the additional water as needed. Squeeze out any lumps that might have formed in the dough. Let the dough rest for 5 minutes.
- Divided the dough into 6 equal portions. Roll each dough portion into a ball. Then form the dough ball into a patty that is apart 3 to 4 inches in diameter by using the palms of your hands. If the dough is drying out and cracking when you roll it, add a little warm water to your hands before forming the disks.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Lightly oil a large skillet over medium heat. Let the skillet get hot before adding the arepa dough. In batches, add the formed arepas disks to the skillet. Cook each arepa about 4-6 minutes on each side, or until they start to get light brown spots. Transfer to the baking sheet.
- Once all the arepas have been browned in the skillet and transfered to the baking sheet, place in the oven and cook for 14-18 minutes, flipping halfway through the cooking time. They will finishing cooking in the oven. When they are done, the outer part will sound hard and hallow when tapped with your hand. They should also be a nice golden brown color. Remove from the oven.
- Let cool a few minutes before handling. Carefully slice the arepas in half and fill them with the avocado + chickpea filling. Serve right away!
