Main

Spiced chickpeas and spinach

Name: Spiced chickpeas and spinach
Yield: 6
Ingredients: 220g dried chickpeas; 1/2 cup (125ml) olive oil; 1 onion, sliced; 1 dried bay leaf; 3 garlic cloves, crushed; 2 tsp each coriander and cumin seeds, roasted, ground; 1 tsp fennel seeds, roasted, ground; 1 tsp each ground allspice and ground cinnamon; 1/2 cup silverbeet leaves and stems (optional), blanched, chopped; 100g English spinach, stems discarded; Juice of 2 lemons; Sea salt flakes, to serve

Rate now

Jump to recipe

by delicious. team

delicious. team

Oct 20, 2018

“This comes from Seville. We ate it the first time in Macarena, north of the city. Some of the places look a little scary to walk into, but there was this smell coming out of one of them, punchy and heady. We went in and they only had a couple of things so we ordered the chickpeas with spinach. Straight after, we walked to the market, bought the spices, dried chickpeas and a big bag of spinach leaves, and cooked it straight away. We wrote the recipe down and it has been on our menu since.” This is an edited extract from Eat at the Bar by Matt McConnell with Jo Gamvros (Hardie Grant Books, RRP $50). Available in stores nationally. Recipe by Matt McConnell and Jo Gamvros.

220g dried chickpeas
1/2 cup (125ml) olive oil
1 onion, sliced
1 dried bay leaf
3 garlic cloves, crushed
2 tsp each coriander and cumin seeds, roasted, ground
1 tsp fennel seeds, roasted, ground
1 tsp each ground allspice and ground cinnamon
1/2 cup silverbeet leaves and stems (optional), blanched, chopped
100g English spinach, stems discarded
Juice of 2 lemons
Sea salt flakes, to serve

Method

1.

Place chickpeas in a bowl, cover with water, cover and stand overnight to soak.
2.

The next day, drain chickpeas, place in a saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring to the boil over high heat, reduce to a simmer and cook for 45-55 minutes or until tender (top up with water if needed). Drain.
3.

Heat 100ml oil in a heavy-based saucepan over medium heat. Sweat onion, bay leaf and garlic with the 1 tbs fine sea salt and 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper for 6 minutes or until onions are translucent and soft but not coloured. Add spices, mix well, then remove from heat. Mix in the chickpeas and silverbeet (if using). Transfer to fridge to cool until ready to re-cook.
4.

Heat remaining 25ml oil in a large frying pan over a high heat. When oil is hot, add an even layer of chickpea mixture to the pan, spreading it out to cover base of pan, and cook for 3-5 minutes. This will allow chickpeas to caramelise on the bottom. Do not stir mixture until the chickpeas have become quite brown, almost burnt.
5.

Quickly add spinach and stir until it begins to soften. Remove from heat and add lemon juice. Serve piping hot with a sprinkle of sea salt.