Roasted garlic and chickpea mash

If the oven is on you might as well roast a bulb of garlic or two (as long as you aren't baking a cake), and this recipe puts the heat to good use.  This dish makes a change from the usual mashed potato, and the finished product is as good at mopping up juices.

Cut the top off a whole bulb of garlic. Wrap in tin foil and drip a little olive oil on top. Seal well and pop in the oven alongside whatever you are slow cooking.  If you are just roasting the garlic then cook at 150C for about 1.5 hours.  When slow-roasted, the garlic will turn a light sticky brown and after you let it cool a little you can squeeze out the cloves into a bowl.

Fry off a finely chopped onion until soft, then add a tin of drained chickpeas and about 300ml of vegetable stock. Simmer for 10 minutes and then drain, reserving some of the liquid.  

Add the roasted garlic puree and mash until you have a good consistency. You want a bit of texture, add some of the cooking liquid if you need, to make a good consitency.