Potaje de Garbanzos (Spanish Chickpea, Potato & Spinach Stew)
Potaje de Garbanzos has its roots in Spain's rural cuisine, where cheap and easily available ingredients were turned into a nourishing meal. The lack of expensive animal proteins meant that the dish was also suitable for religious fasting periods, which made it a popular staple during Lent. Over time, it reached the kitchens of all economic classes, where it began to transform into countless variations and became a symbol of home-cooked comfort food. It's the kind of dish many remember fondly as the one their grandmother would prepare on a weekend.
Ingredients
- 320 g dried chickpeas (or 2 x 660g jars or 4 x 400g cans, see note below)
- 2 large onions (400g)
- 1 red pepper
- 1 bay leaf
- 6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 6 garlic cloves
- 1 large slice of bread (60g, I used sourdough)
- 2 medium potatoes (250g)
- 2 large tomatoes (300g)
- 300 g large leaf spinach
- 1 1/2 tsp pimentón de la vera dulce (sweet smoked paprika)
- 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 1 1/2 tbsp salt (21g)
Instructions
- Soak the chickpeas in at least 1.5l of water overnight.
- The next day, peel and half one of the onions and deseed the red pepper. Drain the chickpeas and add them to a large saucepan along with 1.5l of water as well as the halved onion, red pepper and bay leaf. Bring to a boil, then simmer with a lid left ajar (or covered if the pan is large enough) for 1 hour or until the chickpeas are just tender. Then simply turn off the heat and leave to cool. Alternatively, cook with 1l of water for around 15 minutes in a pressure cooker (saves 45 minutes of the total time).
- When the chickpeas have around 10 mins left, heat 3 tablespoons of the olive oil over medium heat in a large casserole. Peel the garlic and sauté them until golden (3-4 minutes), then transfer to the jug of a large blender. Now toast the bread in the residue oil until golden on both sides (3-4 minutes), chop it into chunks and add to the blender jug as well.
- Discard the bay leaf from the chickpeas and transfer the cooked onion and pepper to the same jug from above. Add 300ml of water and blend into a thick paste. Drain the chickpeas, but keep the cooking water for later.
- Heat the remaining 3 tablespoons of oil over medium heat in the casserole. Peel and roughly chop the onion and sauté in the oil until it begins to turn golden (8-10 minutes). Meanwhile, cut the potatoes into bite-sized chunks, roughly chop the spinach, grate the tomatoes and discard the skins (or eat as a snack with olive oil and salt), setting everything aside in separate bowls.
- Add the grated tomatoes to the casserole with the onions and cook until the juices have evaporated. Stir in the paprika and pepper and, once aromatic, pour in the drained chickpeas, 400ml of the reserved cooking liquid, the blended paste, potatoes and salt. Return to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer covered for 15 minutes, stirring halfway through to avoid it sticking to the bottom.
- Fold in the spinach and cook for another 5 minutes or until the potatoes are tender. Divide over bowls and serve with a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil.
Notes
If using jarred or canned chickpeas, simply cut the red pepper and onion into chunks and sauté in a little oil until softened (8-10 minutes), then add them to the blender jug and proceed with Step 4 to blend the paste. Drain the chickpeas and follow the rest of the recipe, adding 400ml of fresh water instead of the cooking liquid when you add the chickpeas.