White or Green Chickpeas
By Cat, June 2008 (Photo, right, from Wikimedia Commons)
It was 1981, I had just gotten a new cookbook: A Passion For Vegetables, by Vera Gewanter (© 1980), and was headed for the Oregon Coast for a long weekend. I wanted to try something new, something unlike anything I’d ever made before, and decided to try this French recipe. I purchased all ingredients before I left and did some preparation in advance so that I wouldn’t have to take a lot of equipment with me. I finished the cooking in my beach cabin’s kitchen. Delicious! And for more than a week after that trip, I could still smell the pleasant aroma of the almond-garlic-saffron-pepper paste in my car.
- Includes: 1. Chickpea (Garbanzo) & Spinach Casserole
- See also: 1. Braised Spinach with Chickpeas, Spanish-Style; 2. Soupe au Pistou; 3. Homemade Tomato Paste (For Canning, Freezing, Refrigeration); 4. Beans & Other Legumes: Soaking & Sprouting; 5. Vegetarian & Bean Menu
Chickpea and Spinach Casserole
Spinach in November
(Photo, left, from Wikimedia Commons)
If you are in a hurry, you can use canned garbanzos, drained. But I highly recommend cooking your own beans. Especially cooking them in the mineral-rich liquid from the wilted spinach. Mmmm.
This casserole is similar to another French dish from Provence, called Soupe de Pistou, and related to Spanish Braised Spinach with Chickpeas .
My adaptation of this classic French recipe serves 4. It is important to make each of the “pastes” separately, in order to get the right flavor. It’s a bit more work, but definitely worth the effort.
Regarding tomato paste: I don’t recommend using commercial tomato paste, as it likely contains HFCS, and leached lead solder from the can (or leached plastic from the BPA/BPS can liner). See also Homemade Tomato Paste (For Canning, Freezing, Refrigeration)
NOTE: 1 ½ cups dried chickpeas makes 3 ¾ cups cooked
Ingredients & Equipment:
- Chick-Peas
- 1 ½ cups dried chick-peas, soaked or sprouted (see Cooked Chickpeas for instructions).
- warm filtered water
- lemon juice (1 Tbsp per quart of water)
- 2 ½ pounds fresh spinach or chard (or one 16-oz bag frozen, but it won’t turn out as good)
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 2 medium carrots, cut into 4-5 pieces
- 2 small onions
- 4 whole cloves (spice)
- Unrefined sea salt
- freshly ground black pepper
- bread crumbs
- 2 – 3 Tbsp olive oil
- Tomato Paste
- 2 medium-sized tomatoes, chopped (or 14 oz canned chopped tomatoes, drained)
- 1 clove garlic (or more), chopped
- 2 – 3 Tbsp olive oil
- 3 Tbsp chopped parsley
- 1 tsp savory (dried herb)
- Almond Paste
- 12 almonds, blanched
- 2 – 4 cloves garlic, peeled (optional)
- ¼ tsp saffron
- pinch of black pepper
- dash cayenne pepper
- Equipment
- large bowl
- saucepan
- 3-quart saucier (or French oven that can be used on stove top)
- nut chopper or blender
- mortar and pestle
- casserole dish or French oven
Method:
- Chick Peas: Cover beans with warm water in large bowl. Stir in whey or lemon juice and leave in a warm place overnight (7 – 12 hours). Check after a few hours and add more water as necessary.
- Soak or sprout the chickpeas; then drain, rinse and put in saucier (or French oven).
- Wash spinach and wilt it in a saucepan for a few minutes. Squeeze dry, saving the liquid.
- Cover chickpeas with water and liquid from spinach.
- Alternately: wilt spinach in saucier, and squeeze liquid into the saucier. Then add chickpeas.
- Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a low simmer.
- Stud each onion with 2 whole cloves; cut carrots. Add these, along with the thyme to the beans. Simmer about 1 hour or longer, until tender. During the last half hour, add salt and pepper.
- Tomato Paste: While chick-peas are cooking, simmer tomatoes, uncovered, in about 2 Tbsp oil. Add garlic, parsley, savory and a little salt. Cook until it forms a paste-like sauce.
- Almond Paste: Preheat oven to 400°F.
- Chop almonds, mince garlic; place in mortar and pound to a paste. Add saffron, black pepper, and cayenne. Pound some more. If the paste becomes too dry, add a little liquid from the chickpeas.
- Casserole: When chickpeas are ready, there should be just a little liquid left, the consistency of a sauce. Drain off some liquid if there is too much.
- Remove carrots and onions and pass them through a sieve, discarding the cloves. Add the puree to the chick-peas, then stir in the tomato and almond pastes. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly.
- Add spinach; adjust seasoning. If using separate casserole dish, oil it with olive oil & scoop in bean mixture. Level the surface, sprinkle with bread crumbs and bake 30 minutes.
Testing
Retesting 1/5/09: Although I’ve made this before with good results using fresh spinach or chard, I wanted to test using frozen spinach. I partially thawed two 16-oz bags of frozen chopped spinach, then dumped contents into saucier to thaw by warming over low heat, then allowed to cool a bit before squeezing out the liquid (for cooking the garbanzos). Otherwise, I followed recipe as written, using fresh tomatoes for the tomato paste. Result: Finished casserole tastes great, but spinach resembled canned spinach in texture (overcooked and a bit slick), and there was too much of it. Recommendation: Fresh spinach produces better end result; if must use frozen, use only one 16-oz bag.
References
- A Passion For Vegetables, by Vera Gewanter, © 1980; published 1980 by The Viking Press, New York
