Got leftover Thanksgiving ingredients? I whipped these guys up using the Pumpkin Puree and Parsley I had leftover from Thanksgiving. The Water Chestnuts were a perfect addition and give them a great crunch. My friend Scott was my taste-tester and he said that they felt and tasted so much like crab cakes… success! These Pumpkin Chickpea cakes are insanely easy to make and will definitely please meat eaters and veggie heads alike and the best part is that you can literally make them in about 35 minutes!
INGREDIENTS:
yields 8-10 small cakes
Serves 4-5 people
1 12oz can of Chickpeas, rinsed and drained
3/4 cup Pumpkin Puree
1/2 cup Water Chestnuts, chopped
1/3 cup Fresh Parsley, finely chopped
1/3 White Onion, chopped
1 tbsp Crushed Garlic
a splash of Soy Sauce
Pepper to taste
Drizzle of Olive Oil
Breading: 1 part Nutritional Yeast, 2 parts Panko Breadcrumbs
(or you could use homemade breadcrumbs leftover from your stuffing bread)
Sriracha Aioli
1 part Sriracha
2 parts Veganaisse
splash of Ketchup
INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Chop all your veggies. Preheat oven to 375
2. In a large bowl, empty drained and rinsed Chickpeas. Begin to mash the chickpeas with a fork. Beans should be about 70% mashed (some whole beans are okay)
3. Mix in Onion, Parsley, Pumpkin, and Water Chestnuts, splash of Soy Sauce and Pepper to taste.
4. In a separate bowl, combine Nutritional Yeast and Panko.
5. Using a large spoon scoop mixture to form round balls. Roll the balls in the breadcrumb mixture until thoroughly coated. Coat the cakes one by one and place on baking sheet.
6. Drizzle the tops with Olive Oil. Bake for 12 minutes or until nicely browned then take balls out flip them over. You can mash them down into cakes at this point. Bake for another 10-12 minutes.
7. While the cakes are in the oven, mix your Sriracha Aioli. Allow cakes to cool for a couple minutes before topping with Aioli.
One final word – while these are perfect appetizer sized cakes, they aren’t quite finger-food. Serve on a tiny plate with a tiny fork. Tiny plates and forks immediately make things look fancier anyway. 🙂
