Potaje de Garbanzos (Spanish Chickpea, Potato & Spinach Stew)
Potaje de Garbanzos, a traditional Spanish chickpea stew, is a soul-warming blend of tender garbanzo beans, vegetables and smoked paprika, simmered to perfection. It's not only delicious, but with the help of a pressure cooker or ready-cooked legumes it's also quick to prepare, making it perfect for weeknights or a cozy weekend meal.
Prevent your screen from going dark
Equipment
- Pressure Cooker, (I recommend Fissler Vitavit Premium 3.5l or larger), optional
Ingredients
- 320 g dried chickpeas (or 2 x 570g jars or 3 x 400g cans, see note below)
- 2 1/2 tbsp salt (35g)
- 2 large onions (400g)
- 10 garlic cloves
- 1 red pepper
- 1 bay leaf
- 6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 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
Instructions
- Soak the chickpeas with 1 tablespoon of the salt (14g) in at least 1.5l of water overnight. If using a pressure cooker, you can skip the salt.
- The next day, peel and half one of the onions, peel four of the garlic cloves and deseed the red pepper. Drain the chickpeas and add them to a large saucepan along with 2l of water as well as the halved onion, four garlic cloves, 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 1 hour and 15 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 remaining garlic cloves and sauté them whole 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, garlic 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 remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons of salt (21g). 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.
Video
View this post on Instagram
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. Jarred chickpeas are often pre-seasoned, so make sure to add less salt (1/2 tsp per jar).