I can’t believe I’ve never made this most traditional dish before now, and it all came about because Kerstin @MsMarmitelover asked if I had a recipe for espinacas con garbanzos. And well, I could have found all kinds of recipes that sounded good, but knowing Kerstin, she would want a tried and tested one. So when my friend Fede @Lerele sent me a photo of a recipe on Twitter and said it was the best spinach he’s ever had… well I had to try it.
The first time I made this I didn’t quite have all the right ingredients. Rather than a large bunch of fresh spinach I had baby spinach leaves, and instead of garbanzos cooked in a puchero I just had some in a jar. Also, I only had fresh bread from the bakery, not the day-old stuff the recipe called for. But it still turned out great. I’ve since made it a few times with mostly the “proper” ingreadients. The recipe below is Fede’s recipe, with a few of my own adjustments. Another modification was using my little blender since I don’t have a mortar and pestle. And it was even better a couple of hours later once it had cooled off – amazing flavour. I have to say that Fede was right – great recipe.
Ingredients and instructions below…
- 200 grams or half a jar garbanzos
(or ideally 3 handfuls of puchero-cooked garbanzos) - bunch of spinach (250 grams chopped leaves)
- 300 mls water
- 1 tsp smoked paprika (hot or sweet)
- 6 tbsps olive oil
- 1 tsp cumin
- dash of vinegar
- 6 cloves of garlic – 3 whole, 3 minced
- 2 slices of day-old bread
Original recipe is taken from Recetas de Cocina Sevillana
Chop the spinach and rinse well, then add to boiling water with a little salt and a tablespoon of oil to keep it green. When tender stir in the garbanzos and turn down to low heat. In a small frying pan sautée three whole cloves of garlic in the olive oil. Remove the garlic when browned and add the two slices of bread; fry on both sides until browned and crispy then remove and reserve in a mortar with the toasted garlic. In the same hot oil add the three cloves of minced garlic and paprika, give them a quick stir and add them to the spinach with chickpeas. Then mash the garlic in a mortar (I used a stick blender) with the toasted bread, cumin, dash of vinegar, and cut with a little water until you get a nice thick paste. Add this mixture to the pot, stir well and simmer over medium heat for ten or fifteen minutes to reduce broth.
