The other day I had a bag of fresh baby spinach that needed using up so I had a quick look online for some “spinach and egg” inspiration and found this, which as it turns out is a typical Spanish dish. I hadn’t planned on making a stew, let alone something with garbanzos, but this looked interesting and so after a few adjustments to the recipe I’d found I decided this would make a nice meal. And it was! I used chicken broth but you can swap that for veggie broth if you want a vegetarian dish. Serves two but just double the recipe for more people or to have some tasty leftovers the next day.

Ingredients and instructions below…

Ingredients

• 4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 175 grams fresh spinach, coarsely chopped (or whole baby spinach leaves)
• 1 small chopped onion
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika (hot or sweet)
• 1 400-gram jar of chickpeas, rinsed
• 1 400-gram tin chunky-chopped tomatoes
• 1 cup broth
• 2 eggs
• salt, freshly ground pepper
• olive oil

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large heavy pot over medium heat. Add 2 sliced garlic cloves and stir until lightly browned, then add the spinach, tossing to coat, and season with salt and pepper. Cook just until spinach is wilted but still bright green, 2-3 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.

In the same pot heat 2 tablespoons oil over medium heat, then add onion and the other 2 garlic cloves. Cook until onion is softened, 3-4 minutes.

Add cumin and paprika, stir a bit to brown the spices, then add the chickpeas and tomatoes. Cook and stir until tomatoes start to caramelize and chickpeas begin to brown, 8-10 minutes. Add the broth and bring to a simmer, scraping up any browned bits from bottom of pan. Reduce heat to medium and simmer, occasionally mashing some chickpeas with the back of a spoon or a potato masher, until sauce is thickened, 15-20 minutes. Fold in spinach; simmer for flavors to meld, adding more broth if too thick.

Pour some oil into a large heavy skillet to a depth of about 1 cm. Heat the oil and then crack in the eggs. Using a large spoon, carefully baste whites (not yolks) with oil until whites are set and edges are crunchy, lacy, and golden brown, 2-3 minutes (do not turn). Season eggs with salt and pepper.

Spoon the stew into soup bowls and top each with a fried egg.