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One Pot Chickpea and Spinach


Easy to prepare, ideal for a Lenten or Vegan Diet, super nutritious and finger licking. This Mediterranean dish is worth trying. My trick to make it kid friendly is to add some country sausage too. And when asked: “Mommy what are we having for lunch today”, I answer “SAUSAGE (loudly speaking) with chickpeas and spinach (lower your voice here)”, ha ha.

Hands on:      10 minutes

Cooking Time: 2 hours & 30 minutes**

Serves:             4- 6

how to cooke chickpeas with spinach

Ingredients

500 g (1,1 lb) chickpeas (soaked in water overnight)

1 bay leaf

1 garlic clove (cleaned, whole)

1 stick celery

100 ml (50+50) (3,4 fl.oz.) olive oil

3 onions (finely chopped)

1 teaspoon anise (ground)

1 tablespoon tomato paste

50 ml (1,7 fl.oz) white wine (dry)

1300 g (2,9 lb) fresh spinach (washed and thick stems removed) and/or other mixed greens

1 bunch dill (stems removed, finely chopped)

½ lemon juice

salt

pepper

How to do it

  1. Add in a big, deep pot the chickpeas, the bay leaf, the garlic clove, the celery and water (5 cm over the chickpeas).

  2. Boil the chickpeas for about 1 ½ - 2 hours, or until cooked but firm.

  3. Remove the bay leaf, the garlic clove and the celery.

  4. Drain, but reserve two cups of their broth.

  5. In the same pot, pour 50ml (1,7 fl.oz) olive oil and let it heat very well. Add the onions together with the anise and sauté for 3-4 minutes.

  6. Add the tomato paste and the wine.

  7. Stir with a wooden spoon until everything is well combined and the alcohol is evaporated.

  8. Add the spinach and/or greens, stir and cook for about 5 minutes until the greens get soft.

  9. Add the chickpeas, the lemon juice, and season with salt and pepper according to taste.

  10. Cook over high heat for 10-15 minutes, until most of the liquids are absorbed.

  11. Add the rest of the olive oil (50ml or 1,7 fl.oz) and the dill.

  12. Mix well and remove from heat.

  13. Ready

Tips

  • **If you have a pressure cooker you can save a lot of time when boiling the chickpeas. It only takes 20 minutes. Mind to add less water (just to cover the surface of the chickpeas).

  • If you are not a Lenten or Vegan diet, you can sauté together with the onions some country sausage (250 gr – 8,8 oz, cut into small pieces). This is my way to make this dish kid friendly.

  • The spinach, the minute you buy it, should be 1,3 kg (2,9 lb). That is before removing the stems.

  • If you like you can add some smoked paprika atop. It really lifts the taste.

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