Chickpea, cheese and pesto sandwich spread

For a family that has always defined a sandwich as something that has meat between bread slices, one of the biggest challenges I faced when Sam turned vegetarian was coming up with meatless sandwich fillings. Since Sam loves chickpeas and cheese, I decided to make something with both. I threw in a few aromatics and pesto, and we had a sandwich filling that even carnivorous me really loved.

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Chickpea, cheese and pesto sandwich spread

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes

Total Time 25 minutes

Servings 2 cups

Author Connie Veneracion

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 onion chopped
• 1 large roasted bell pepper
• 2 tablespoons pesto
• 1 cup canned chickpeas drained
• 1/3 cup crumbled soft cheese any variety that melts well like Monterey Jack or even the local Quickmelt
• 1/3 cup crumbled cream cheese
• 1/3 to 3/4 c.cup milk
• salt to taste
• pepper to taste
• 1 tablespoon chopped parsley

Instructions

1. Heat the butter and olive oil in a pan.
2. Add the onion and bell pepper. Cook gently until the onion pieces start to turn translucent.
3. Add the chickpeas and pesto. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Add about two tablespoonfuls of water, lower the heat, cover and cook for about 10 minutes or until quite dry.
   
4. Turn off the heat. Take a potato masher and mash everything in the pan. How smooth or how coarse is entirely up to you.
5. Pour in the milk, little by little, stirring as you pour until the desired consistency is reached.
   
6. If you want a mixture with the consistency of a dip, add more milk. If you want something thick enough to spread on bread without running down the sides, use less milk. Remember though that the cheese will harden in the fridge and what might look like a very thin mixture will actually become thicker after chilling.
7. When you’re happy with the consistency, turn off the heat. Stir in the parsley. Taste; add more salt and pepper, if needed.
   

Recipe Notes

The spread will keep in the fridge, covered, for at least four days. I can’t tell if it will still be okay longer than that. We consumed everything within that time so I can only vouch for four days.