Recipe - Stuffed Escarole Leaves With Marinated Chickpeas

3 cup Dried chickpeas
2 teaspoon Dried sage
5 Bay leaves
One fourth teaspoon Salt
1 pn Freshly ground black pepper
4 md Tomatoes, seeded & minced
2 teaspoon Minced garlic
2 tablespoon Chopped fresh parsley
2 tablespoon White wine vinegar
1 lg Head escarole
washed and cored

Rinse chickpeas, place in a large bowl and cover with 9 cups water.
Refrigerate and let soak overnight. In a large pot, bring two quarts of
water to a boil. Add sage and bay leaves. Drain chickpeas and rinse well.
Add chickpeas to boiling water and cook until they are soft, about 30 to 45
minutes. Drain chickpeas, reserving 2 cups of cooking liquid. Sprinkle
chickpeas with salt and pepper, and lightly mash them with a fork. Set
aside to cool. In a large bowl toss tomatoes with garlic and parsley. Add
cooled chickpeas and toss with just enough reserved cooking liquid to
moisten. Add vinegar to taste. Bring a small saucepan of salted water to a
boil. Fill a large bowl with ice water and set aside. Place escarole
leaves in a strainer and submerge in boiling water until leaves are soft,
about 2 minutes. Remove leaves from water and immediately plunge them into
ice water. Drain and pat dry. Lay leaves out flat nad place about 2 or 3
tablespoons of chickpea mixture at broad end of each leaf. Roll up like a
cigar, turning sides in to enclose filling. Serve at room temperature.
Posted to MMRecipes Digest by "John Weber" hdbrer@ibm.net on Mar 21, 98