Spiced chickpeas with spinach

Packed with flavour!

Spiced chickpeas with spinach is one way I like to prepare my chickpeas as it gives them a very delicious, sweet and aromatic flavour! The spices used include: cumin and cinnamon and coriander as the main herb.

I developed this particular recipe of the spiced chickpeas with spinach using the jar of organic spicy pepper sauce from The Food Philosopher! These red spicy peppers are grown in Florina in Greece and the sauce that is created is a real joy for the senses. In the sauce are fresh tomatoes and grape must to give it an even sweeter flavour with the perfect kick of heat through it. The sauce itself can be enjoyed as a dipping sauce or a marinade too! Click here to see another recipe I developed using this red sauce and check out this link to the dessert I created using The Food Philosopher’s natural fig jam!

Pre soaking the chickpeas

Chickpeas in general are so versatile you can boil or roast them to use in salads, dips or even soups! Check out the link to my Cypriot hummus soup. The key preparation with the dry chickpeas is to soak them before cooking. Soaking them beforehand helps soften them and also helps with their digestion.

How to save cooking time

To help fasten the process when I’m cooking with chickpeas I tend to bulk boil batches of chickpeas. I then freeze them in containers with the liquid they were cooking in. Therefore, to use them next time all I need to do is defrost them and continue to prepare them as I wish. Canned chickpeas can be used as well but of course the flavour of them is not as good and there are preservatives to consider. Plus it’s cheaper overall to use dry chickpeas!

For more vegetarian/vegan creations, traditional and non, check out this link!

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Spiced chickpeas with spinach

Prep Time

10 mins

Cook Time

1 hr 10 mins

Soaking time

1 d

 

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Mediterranean

Servings: 5 People

Author: Eleni Georges

Ingredients

• 400 g dried chickpeas
• 2 small onions
• 2 garlic cloves
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• ½ tsp ground cinnamon
• 130 g The Food Philosopher spicy pepper sauce, see notes¹
• 2 tbs tomato paste
• 20 fresh coriander sprigs, roughly chopped
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tbs olive oil
• 100 g baby spinach leaves, see notes²

Instructions

1. Check the chickpeas for any stones or rotten pieces. Place them in a large bowl to soak. You need to add a lot of water to allow for the chickpeas expanding as they absorb water. Soak the chickpeas 12-24 hours. During that time change the water they are soaking in once or twice. Drain the water when you are ready to cook and wash well.

2. Bring 2.5L of water to a boil in a large pan or casserole and add the chickpeas. Then reduce the heat to medium and let it cook for about 45min. Remove any foam or skins that may appear with a slotted spoon.

3. The chickpeas will be ready to strain once they are able to be squashed with your fingers but still feel a bit grainy. Strain the chickpeas to remove the water.

4. Process the rest of the ingredients (except the olive oil and spinacin a food processor until it is all well combined and a uniform paste is created.

5. Heat the olive oil in the pan the chickpeas were cooking in and sauté the processed mixture for about 5min, stirring occasionally. The mixture will slighty thicken as the liquid will evaporate and become very aromatic. After that time add 800mL of warm water (see notes³), bring to the boil and return the chickpeas in the sauce.

6. Allow them to cook for a further 20-25min or until the sauce is completely reduced and the chickpeas are tender.

7. Add the baby spinach in the pot at the very end, after you take the food off the heat and just simply stir it through. It will completely wilt with the steam in the pot. Serve warm with some rice or flatbread and a fresh salad.

Recipe Notes

1. If you do not like hot spicy food then you may substitute this for the mild pepper sauce. Alternatively if this sauce is not available to you, substitute it with 150g of roasted peppers, ½ cup of passata and a chilli of your choice.

2. You may choose to add some chopped kale leaves. If you do that then add it from the start in the sauce with the chickpeas rather than stir it through in the end like the spinach.

3. I usually boil the water in the kettle before I add it in the sauce just to make the cooking process faster.