In the past, whenever I would see recipes that called for you to peel your garbanzos I always thought Are You Crazy, No F-ing Way, Life’s Too Short, etc etc. Then I accidently discovered this method. Well, probably everyone knows it, but it was news to me. While I was drying the rinsed garbanzos (to crispy roast them) I rolled them around in a tea towel to get them extra dry and – magic! – the skins just slid right off. Yay!
Ingredients and Instructions below…
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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…
Got inspired this morning when I saw this Instagram pic by Ellie, co-owner of the Pear Café in Bristol. Hers were a much “healthier” version. I went for more of a traditional burger thing, first making two cheeseburgers with tomato, lettuce and onion, mayo and dijon. The other two I topped with fried onions and served with a soya-mayo (just mayonnaise with some soy sauce added). Both types were fabulous, served on freshly grill-toasted artisanal molletes (a soft Spanish bread roll), though in retrospect I realised I should have made eight smaller burgers from this recipe, which I did on my next try. Also the second time I added fresh cilantro – made all the difference. Very filling, super delicious.
Ingredients and instructions below…
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…
I’d had a kilo bag of alubias blancas in the cupboard for ages and so finally decided to do something with them. But what? Foodie friends on Twitter suggested a Fabada Asturiana. This is traditionally made with fabes de la granga and saffron, but since I had alubias blancas I just went with those, and substituted paprika for saffron. Turns out alubias and fabes are the same thing, basically meaning “large white bean” in different regions of Spain. I think my large white beans were either haricot or cannellini (?). I also picked up a “fabada prep” vacuum-package at the supermarket, containing 300 grams of very serious looking chorizo and morcilla (black pudding) along with a chunk of fatty salt pork, or tocina. Love that they do this here. There is also a “puchero prep” pack available. One day… maybe.
As usual, when trying something new, I checked out a few different recipes on the internet and then did a sort of mash up while adding a twist or two of my own. And the result was very tasty indeed. Rich smoky flavour from the spicy pimentón, a lovely thick beany sauce and lots of meaty goodness. Perfect eating on a chilly January day.
Ingredients and instructions below…