Skye Gyngell pays homage to the mighty chickpea

To enter the kitchen here at Petersham you have to walk through a store cupboard which, during busy lunch periods, doubles as our dessert section. The cupboard is lined with wooden shelves which are packed with all the things I love to use in cooking: oils, vinegars, condiments, honeys, spices and sugars - from palm to cane - as well as various pickles.

But the items that fill the food cupboard more than any of these are the grains and pulses. We've got a huge variety of dried beans, including cannellini, borlotti, a lovely little white bean from Spain known as arrocina, a plump, taupe bean called zolfini from Tuscany, beautiful pale-brown lentils from Umbria, farro and polentas from just outside Venice. And last, but not at all least, chickpeas. I love the gentle, nutty flavour of chickpeas and the way they sit so comfortably with the heat of chillis, lemon juice, olive oil and herbs such as mint and coriander. I love them partly pounded with olive oil and finished with lemon juice, chilli, garlic and tahini paste to form a rough type of houmous eaten on toast or simply with flat bread.

Like all dried pulses, you need to soak chickpeas before cooking, ideally in cold water overnight, but at least for a few hours. Drain the water in which they have been soaking and place in a pan large enough to hold them with a little room to spare - they are not happy if the pan is overcrowded - cover with cold water, plus a couple more inches. Place on a medium heat, bring gently to the boil, and then turn down the heat to a gentle simmer. Cook until tender to the bite - about 40 minutes - then drain, and dress while still warm to maximise flavour.

One thing to remember is not to add salt to the liquid while cooking dried pulses; it prevents them from softening. Some people suggest that you add a teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda to help speed up the cooking process. I don't bother, as I have never particularly understood the benefit. One handy tip, though, if - like me - you are sometimes disorganised and forget to soak your beans, is to place the chickpeas in a saucepan, cover with cold water, bring to a vigorous boil and, as soon as the water is boiling, drain and return directly to the pan. Then cover with cold water and cook as if they had been soaked - it's a shortcut that works very well.

One of my favourite chickpea dishes is a type of curry we often make at Petersham that is laden with ground spices such as cardamom, mustard seeds, coriander and cinnamon and then finished off with tamarind, maple syrup and tamari. I fold lots of green spinach through at the end, and the result is a comforting, gently spicy dish that tastes good for you.

And that is why I think I am so fond of all these different pulses and grains: because when I eat and when I cook I want to create something that tastes "good for you". Food should nurture and sustain both body and soul - that's why I like good, honest food, that tastes as it should - food you can happily drag your bread through. Nothing epitomises that to me more than chickpeas, beans, lentils or farro. Here are some of the other ways I like to cook chickpeas. s

Skye Gyngell is the head chef at Petersham Nurseries, Church Lane, Richmond, Surrey, tel: 020 8605 3627. Her book 'A Year in my Kitchen', published by Quadrille, priced £25, is the 2007 Guild of Food Writers' Cookery Book of the Year

Scallops with chickpeas, mint and chilli

Scallops and chickpeas go well together. The lovely sweetness of the scallops is very nice alongside the earthiness of the chickpeas. The chilli gives it a little heat and the mint cleans the dish up.

Serves 4

200g/7oz chickpeas
20 scallops
1 long, fresh, red chilli
15 mint leaves
1tbsp red-wine vinegar
A squeeze of lemon juice
Sea-salt and freshly ground black pepper
50ml/2floz extra-virgin olive oil

Cook the chickpeas until tender, drain, and, while still warm, squeeze over half the lemon juice. Drizzle over a little of the oil and season with salt and pepper. Set aside in a warm place.

Using a sharp knife, slice the chilli in half lengthwise. Remove the seeds and then slice the chilli into very fine slivers.

Place half the oil in the pan and turn the heat to medium. Season the scallops well with sea-salt and freshly ground black pepper.

When the pan is hot, add the scallops (cook in batches if necessary; you don't want to overcrowd the pan). Cook for 1 minute on one side, then turn. Once you have turned the scallops, throw in the chilli, mint leaves and chickpeas. Add the vinegar and the last squeeze of lemon juice. Cook for half a minute or so, then remove from the heat. The chickpeas should be warm and the scallops golden in colour.

Divide among 4 plates, drizzle over the last of the oil and serve with a wedge of lemon.

Buffalo mozzarella, chickpeas, red pepper and olives

This is a simple, clean-tasting salad. Peppers are in season now, and I for one am very happy to see their vibrant colour sitting on the plate. The basil in this salad is known as purple ruffle; we grow it at Petersham.

Serves 4

4 balls of mozzarella
150g/5oz cooked chickpeas
The juice of half a lemon
60ml/3fl oz extra-virgin olive oil
10 mint leaves
2 large red peppers
10ml/3/4fl oz balsamic vinegar
12 black olives
1 small bunch of basil

Cook the chickpeas until tender, drain and, while still warm, pour over the lemon juice, half the olive oil and the mint leaves. Season generously and set aside.

Heat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6. Slice the peppers in half lengthwise. Lay them cut-side down on a baking tray, drizzle with oil, season, then roast for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven, drizzle with the balsamic vinegar and cook for a further 15 minutes. Remove and cool.

Place half the basil in a blender, add a pinch of salt and the rest of the extra-virgin olive oil. Blend until you have a lovely, vibrant green purée. Tear the red pepper in half with your fingers and divide among 4 plates.

Place the mozzarella on the plates and spoon over the chickpeas. Scatter over the olives and the remaining basil leaves. Season all over lightly with a little salt and pepper, drizzle over the basil oil, and serve.

Chickpeas with fried eggs, labne, burnt sage and chilli butter

Serves 4

150g/5oz cooked chickpeas
25ml/1fl oz extra-virgin olive oil
The juice of half a lemon
A small bunch of flat-leaf parsley
1 clove garlic, peeled and chopped
Sea-salt and freshly ground black pepper

Cook the chickpeas until tender, drain, and, while still warm, dress with the lemon juice and olive oil. Roughly chop the parsley and add to the warm chickpeas.

Finally, add the garlic and season well with salt and pepper. Set aside.

4tbsp labne (or good-quality Greek-style yoghurt) 4 organic free-range eggs 12 sage leaves 60g/2 1/2oz unsalted butter 1 fresh red chilli, seeds in, finely sliced

Place a non-stick saucepan on top of the stove over a medium to high heat. Add a knob of butter to the pan, leaving the rest for the sauce. When the butter is sizzling, carefully crack the eggs into the pan, season with sea-salt and cook until the white has become firm, but the yolks are still runny. Divide the chickpeas among 4 plates.

Spoon the labne on to the chickpeas, and place the fried egg on top of that.

Put the chilli and sage into the hot pan, and add the remaining butter. Swirl the pan and allow the butter to melt and become nutty brown.

Nutty brown butter is delicious - burnt butter is not, so as soon as the butter begins to smell nutty and turn golden, spoon it over the egg and the labne.

Serve at once while the eggs are piping hot; they are not nearly so nice when tepid.

Chickpea, tomato, chard and bread soup

This is an earthy, unpretentious soup that is just as good at room temperature as piping hot. We have an abundance of chard leaves in our garden at this time of year. It is one of my favourite green vegetables.

50ml/2fl oz extra-virgin olive oil
2 yellow onions, peeled and sliced
3 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
1 medium dried chilli, crumbled
200g/7oz cooked chickpeas
400g/13oz good-quality tinned tomatoes
200g/7oz young chard leaves
2 slices ciabatta-style bread
Sea-salt and freshly ground black pepper

Place 25ml/1fl oz olive oil in a saucepan large enough to hold all the ingredients over a medium heat. When the oil is warm, add the onions and cook, stirring from time to time, for 10 minutes.

Now add the dried chilli and garlic and cook for a further 5 minutes, seasoning with a little salt and freshly ground black pepper. Add the chickpeas, stir to combine and then add the tomatoes. Stir once again and cook over a low to medium heat for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, put a large pot of water on the stove to boil, seasoning generously with salt.

Wash the chard leaves to remove any dirt and, when the water is boiling, add the chard and cook for 3 minutes.

Drain and refresh gently under cold running water (this will stop the cooking process and help the chard to maintain a lovely green colour in the soup). Add the chard to the soup. Break the bread up with your fingers and add bit by bit to the soup; you can add a little water at this point if the soup is overwhelmingly thick.

Once you have added the bread, remove the soup from the stove. Pour in the remaining olive oil. Taste and adjust seasoning as necessary. Let the soup sit in a warm place with the lid on for 10 minutes (this allows the bread to absorb all the lovely flavours from the soup).

The Forager by Wendy Fogarty

Petersham's food sourcer reveals where to find your chickpeas...

Of the two types of chickpeas, the desi and kabuli, our choice is the kabuli which is paler in colour, has a larger seed and is commonly grown in Southern Europe and North Africa.

La Fromagerie, London, stocks chickpeas from two regional producers: the Cooperativa Agricola Di Castelluccio Di Norcia in Umbria, and from the protected area of the Sibbilini Hills National Park in Lazio. Tel: 020 7935 0341; www.lafromagerie.com).

Online Italian food specialists Savoria, sell Piemontese chickpeas from Principate di Lucedio (best known for its rice). Available by mail order, tel: 0870 242 1823; www.savoria.co.uk

Spanish specialists Brindisa have dried and wet chickpeas, including the organic Monjardin chickpeas which are sold in water in jars - crucially, their delicate taste and texture hold up to the convenience of their packaging. Available from Brindisa shops in London. Tel: 020 7713 1666; www.brindisa.com