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ESPINACAS CON GARBANZOS (ANDALUSIAN CHICKPEAS)

This spinach and chickpea dish is versatile, full of flavor, fast and flexible. I roughly tripled the original recipe (link below) for our Moon Meal and made a few other adjustments to ingredients (e.g. GF breadcrumbs).

This dish is vegan/vegetarian, gluten free, dairy free, and nut free.

SERVES 12 (see ATK recipe link below to serve about 4)

Gather Your Ingredients

3 slices (1 1/2-ounces) gluten-free bread, torn into 1-inch pieces (I used

6 (15-ounce) cans chickpeas (4 cans drained, 2 cans undrained)

1 ½ cups water, with extra as needed (fresh spinach contains a lot of water, so you may not need unless you use frozen, which is perfectly fine!) - you can also use the reserved tomato liquird from can.

6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided

4-6 garlic cloves, pounded in mortar and pestle

3 tablespoons ancho chile powder

3 tablespoons ground cumin

1 teaspoon table salt

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 small pinch saffron

1 large can whole San Marzano tomatoes, flesh crushed up with hands and liquid reserved

4 teaspoons balsamic vinegar, plus extra for seasoning

 4 cups loosely packed fresh spinach

A few tips from Ruthann

1. Boiling/simmering the chickpeas is key to that texture you might have not been able to put your finger on. In other words, don't skip this step :)

2. I combined the tomatoes into the chickpeas instead of stirring into the spice mixture for two reasons:

   1. The spices and breadcrumbs were being toasted in a cast iron pan and I tend to avoid high acid food in cast iron.

   2. My original reason (cast iron) was a happy accident in that the breadcrumbs and spices stayed a bit "crispier" - we pout into mixture right before serving

3. I used ancho chilie power instead of the traditional smoked paprrika, mainy because it's what I had on hand. Play with a smoked chile spice that you like based on flavor and heat intensity, and leave the cayenne out if you aren't looking for too spicy.

Instructions

1.

Process bread in food processor until finely ground (you should have about 1 cup crumbs). Combine chickpeas and broth in large saucepan and bring to boil over high heat. Adjust heat to maintain simmer and cook until level of liquid is just below top layer of chickpeas, about 10 minutes.

2.

 While chickpeas cook, heat ¼ cup oil in 10-inch nonstick or carbon-steel skillet over medium heat until just shimmering. Add bread crumbs and cook, stirring frequently, until deep golden brown, 3 to 4 minutes. Add garlic, ancho chile powder, cumin, salt, cinnamon, cayenne, and saffron and cook until fragrant, 30 seconds. Stir in spinach until wilted, remove from heat. Stir tomatoes and vinegar into chickpeas; remove from heat.

3.

 Stir bread mixture into chickpeas right before serving, leaving some leftover to top. Continue to simmer, stirring occasionally, until mixture is thickened. Off heat, stir in remaining 2 tablespoons oil. Cover and let stand for 5 minutes. Season with salt and extra vinegar and olive oil to taste.

From: America's Test Kitchen

By Andrea Geary ･ Appears in Cook's Illustrated March/April 2021, America's Test Kitchen TV Season 22: Shareable Spanish Fare