Espinacas con Garbanzos a la Sevillana
Espinacas con Garbanzos a la Sevillana
La Comida Hecha Rápida: The Weeknight Heart
In America, we are taught to barely wilt spinach to keep it bright and fresh. In Seville, the grandmothers know better. They slow-cook it in a heavy bath of olive oil, cumin, and smoked paprika until it surrenders its crispness and transforms into something dark, rich, and deeply savory. This dish is a living relic of Spain's Moorish history, relying on a magic trick called a majado—a paste of fried bread, garlic, and vinegar that acts as a flavor bomb and natural thickener. Using canned chickpeas and frozen chopped spinach isn't cheating; it is exactly how modern Spanish home cooks get this incredible, complex taste of home on the table on a Tuesday night.
Before you start
Wring out the thawed spinach aggressively in a clean kitchen towel or fine-mesh sieve.
You want to remove as much liquid as humanly possible so it looks like a dense, dry green puck. This is the single most important step for the texture of the dish.
Ingredients
- extra virgin olive oil1/3 cup
- garlic4 large cloves
- day-old crusty white bread2 thick slices
- sherry vinegar1 tbsp
- canned chickpeas15 oz
- frozen chopped spinach16 oz
- Spanish sweet smoked paprika1 tbsp
- ground cumin1 tsp
- ground coriander1/2 tsp
- ground cloves1 pinch
- ground ginger1 pinch
- water1/2 cup
- kosher salt and black pepperto taste
Method
- 01
Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium and fry the whole garlic cloves until deeply golden brown.
Remove the garlic with a slotted spoon and transfer to a small food processor or a mortar.
- 02
Fry the bread chunks in the same oil until crispy and golden all over.
Transfer the fried bread to the food processor with the garlic, and pull the skillet entirely off the heat.
- 03
Pulse the fried bread and garlic with the vinegar, cumin, coriander, a generous pinch of salt, and a splash of water.
Process until it forms a thick, chunky paste; this is your majado, the natural thickener that will bind the dish together.
- 04
Stir the smoked paprika, clove, and ginger into the residual warm oil in the off-heat skillet.
Letting the spices bloom off the heat for thirty seconds prevents the paprika from scorching and turning bitter, while turning the oil a deep, fiery red.
- 05
Return the skillet to medium-low heat, add the dry spinach, and stir well to coat.
Break the spinach up in the pan and cook for three to five minutes until it fully absorbs the spiced red oil.
- 06
Fold in the drained chickpeas, the majado paste, and the half cup of water.
Cover and simmer on low heat for ten to fifteen minutes until the liquid is mostly absorbed, leaving a lush, heavy, spice-laden stew.
Notes
This is a dry dish, not a soup.
The moisture is meant to cook out, leaving the rich, olive-oil bound sauce clinging tightly to the chickpeas. Serve it with a fork and extra wedges of fried bread to scoop it up.
Do not substitute the smoked paprika.
The smoke is essential to the Moorish flavor profile of Andalusia. Sweet Hungarian paprika will not yield the same results.
Embrace the dark color.
Don't panic when the spinach loses its vibrant green hue; that dark, swampy visual transformation is exactly where the deep flavor lives.
From Cook Spanish in America.