📋Easy Camping Meals (no fridge)

easy camping meals for family chickpeas cooked on a campfire

📋Easy Camping Meals (no fridge)

Like the cowboy baked beans featured in the Spaghetti Western, pulses cooked over an open fire, are healthy and easy camping meals for a family. Whether you are in the wild of a camping site or in the warmth of your own fireplace, these slow-cooked creamy pulses will carry you in a Sergio Leone's movie, sitting right next to Clint Eastwood.

Course Main Course

Cuisine Italian

Diet Vegan, Vegetarian

Keyword Chickpeas camping fire, Pulse on open fire

Prep Time 1

Cook Time 3

Total Time 1 4

Servings people

Calories 513kcal

Author Laura Tobin

Equipment

Ingredients

1 lb Pulse chickpeas, beans or mixed
½ cup bacon or guanciale optional
1 carrot diced
1 onion diced
3 fresh long tomatoes
2 bay leave or a bouquet garni
1 dried hot chili optional
3 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
2 teaspoon salt

For serving

salt & pepper
2 fennel fronds or dill

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

To prepare the day before

Soak the pulses in water overnight
1 lb Pulse

To prepare 2 hours before

If you are using a clay pan, soak in water 1 or 2 hours before putting it on the open fire, lid included.

Prepare the fire

Start the fire and wait until some charcoal and ember are formed
The fire should be mild to allow the pulse to cook gently, not at a high temperature. Keep the live flame on one side to feed embers to the pot
The wood with living flame should be on one side, charcoal and ember in the middle. The pot will be placed close to the embers but not next to the living flame

Prepare the ingredients

Rince once or twice the pulses from the water they were soaking overnight. Make sure you remove any small stone hidden in between.
Put in the pan with the pulses, the chopped onion, carrot, tomatoes, the bay leaves, the extra virgin olive oil and salt. If you wish also add the bacon and chili.
½ cup bacon or guanciale, 1 carrot diced, 1 onion diced, 3 fresh long tomatoes, 2 bay leave, 1 dried hot chili, 3 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, 2 teaspoon salt
Cover with water, but not all the way to the top. The pulses will increase in volume when cooking.
Cover the pan with the lid, if your pan does not have a lid use some aluminum foil
Position the pan next to the warm ember and away from the living flame
Keep close at hand a bowl of water, a long wooden spoon, and some bbq fire-resistant gloves
Let the pulse gently cook next to the fire and every hour check if you need to add water.
They will need to cook for at least 2 hours, and you can leave them next the dying fire overnight if you have a secure fireplace

Serving them

You can serve the chickpeas or beans as they are, warm or even at room temperature.
I like to add a fennel fronds or dill to add some aniseed flavour to contrast to their creamy consistency
Let everyone adjust for salt, pepper, and drizzle with extra virgin olive oil.
3 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, 2 fennel fronds, salt & pepper

Video

Notes

N.B.: Never leave your fire unattended

The clay cooker:

If you are using a clay cooker, read the instructions carefully, and double-check that they are safe to use on an open fire.
Usually, they need to be soaked in water for 1 hour before using it.
Clay cookers should not be next to a live flame, but close to an ember. Read the recipe carefully before you start

The dried pulses:

Chickpeas, beans or dried pulses should be soaking in water for at least 12 hours.
Use a large bowl and cover with abundant water as they increase in size.
Before you use them, throw away the water and rinse them a couple of times. Make sure there are no stones hiding in between.
In this recipe, you can use any type of beans, chickpeas, or pulses.

The fire:

Start the fire at least 1 hour before so you have charcoal or ember to put next to the pot to start the cooking process.
Keep the burning wood on one side, the charcoal, and the ember in the middle and the pot on the other side.
It has to cook for a long time, at least 2 hours, make sure you have wood-burning on the side so you can add more charcoal and ember as time goes by.
If you have a secured glassed fireplace you can leave the pot next to the ember during the night. Just make sure there is enough water in the pot before you go to bed.

Other points:

When you touch hot chili, make sure you wash thoroughly your hands, knife, or anything else that has been in contact with the chili. Do not touch your eyes or face.
When you cook, do not fill the clay cooker with water all the way to the top as the pulses will increase in volume while cooking.
Keep next to the fire a bowl of water and a wooden spoon. Add water inside the pot when necessary and stir.
Cover the cooker with the lid or with aluminum foil. Let it cook for at least 1 hour before checking if more water is needed.
To make sure the pulses are cooking, you should hear a bubbling sound.
Make sure there is always some charcoal or ember next to the pot to maintain the heat.
They will require at least 2 hours of cooking, even more, if the heat is too low or not maintained at a temperature.

Nutrition