My wife's garbanzos from the south of Spain
Garbanzos con espinacas are perfect for wintertime
Do any of you remember the last time I shared a recipe from my wife Tichi? That’s right, it was her gazpacho, a summertime staple in our house, and maybe the most-requested recipe in my entire life!
If you’ve ever made the gazpacho, you know how good Tichi’s cooking is. So that’s why today I’m so excited to share with you another one of her favorite dishes, Garbanzos con Espinacas. It’s a classic stew from the south of Spain, Andalucía, which is where Tichi is from—so it’s a dish she grew up with.
The two main ingredients are garbanzos—which we talked about on Monday—and spinach. Both of them came to Spain from other places hundreds or thousands of years ago…garbanzos were brought by the Phoenicians, and spinach by North African Arabs during the Al Andalus period. It’s a dish that you can taste the influence of history, the flavors of cumin and saffron plus Spanish pimentón, the legacy of migration and empires.
Below is the version using canned garbanzos, but you can easily used dried as well—start by soaking 9 ounces of dried garbanzos, then cook them until tender, and go from there. The taste and texture will be better, but it takes more work…and I know a lot of us are happy to have a meal that’s on the table in under 30 minutes from start to finish, and canned beans help us get there!
And if you want to add an egg on there, I of course recommend making it in the true Spanish style, fried in olive oil, like I taught my friend Stephen Colbert a few years ago. You don’t need a recipe for it, just watch Stephen and me do it and you will understand…!
So this week, promise me you’ll make Tichi’s garbanzos…they’re warm, stewy, good for you (and vegan if you skip the egg, for those of you out there!)—and will feed your family for cheap.
Garbanzos con espinacas Tichi
Serves 4