Espinacas Con Garbanzos
Typically served as a tapa in Andalucía, this lovely, unique stew of Chickpeas, spinach, garlic, smoked paprika, and homemade croutons will surely make you nostalgic for your last trip to Spain. We love the method of using bread to thicken the stew, and the splash of sherry vinegar adds a bright acidity that can't be beat.
What Is Espinacas con Garbanzos?
Espinacas con garbanzos is a traditional Andalusian tapa featuring chickpeas and spinach in a richly spiced, garlicky sauce. While it's called a "stew," it's actually quite thick and concentrated, more like a saucy vegetable dish than a soup. It's served in small portions as part of a tapas spread, though it can certainly be a main dish when served with bread.
What makes this dish distinctively Spanish is the technique of thickening with bread, the generous use of smoked Spanish paprika (pimentón), and the finishing touch of sherry vinegar, ingredients that define Andalusian cooking. It's humble food elevated through technique and quality ingredients.
The Star: Chickpeas
Let's talk about chickpeas and why they're perfect for this Andalusian preparation. Our chickpeas are tiny and intensely nutty, with a firm texture that holds up beautifully to the concentrated, flavorful sauce.
What makes chickpeas ideal for espinacas con garbanzos is their firm texture that doesn't fall apart when stirred into the thick sauce, their nutty flavor that complements the earthy spinach and smoky paprika, and their ability to absorb flavors while maintaining their distinctive chickpea taste.
When combined with wilted spinach, garlicky bread paste, and smoked paprika, chickpeas create something that's earthy, satisfying, and quintessentially Spanish.
The Bread-Thickening Technique
One of the most distinctive aspects of this recipe is using bread to thicken the stew. Small cubes of baguette get toasted in olive oil with garlic until golden, then mashed with cumin, paprika, cayenne, and sherry vinegar into a paste.
This technique is traditional in Spanish cooking, using bread to add body and richness to sauces and stews rather than relying on flour or cream. The toasted bread provides texture, the garlic adds pungency, and the spices bloom in the hot oil, creating a concentrated flavor bomb that becomes the base of the sauce.
Using a mortar and pestle (traditional) or food processor (modern convenience), you mash everything into a paste that gets stirred back into the pan with the beans and broth.
The Spanish Aromatics
The spices are what make this taste distinctively Spanish:
- Smoked Spanish paprika (pimentón): Sweet, smoky, earthy, this is essential and irreplaceable
- Cumin seeds: Toasted until fragrant, providing warm, earthy notes
- Cayenne pepper: Subtle heat that doesn't overwhelm
- Garlic: Multiple cloves toasted until golden, sweet and mellow
Together, these create the warm, smoky, slightly spicy flavor profile that characterizes Andalusian cooking.
The Sherry Vinegar
Sherry vinegar is what makes this dish sing. That "bright acidity that can't be beat" comes from the complex, slightly nutty, intensely flavorful vinegar made from sherry wine in the Jerez region of Spain.
Sherry vinegar is more complex than regular wine vinegar, it has depth and nuttiness along with acidity. It's what Spanish cooks reach for to finish dishes, and it's essential to authentic espinacas con garbanzos.
If you can't find sherry vinegar, use a good red wine vinegar, but know the flavor won't be quite the same.
The Spinach Technique
The spinach preparation is clever: after cooking and straining the chickpeas, use the hot reserved bean broth to quickly cook down the spinach. This flavors the spinach with bean broth while wilting it efficiently.
Run the cooked spinach under cool water to stop cooking and preserve its green color, then squeeze out excess liquid and coarsely chop. This ensures you have flavorful, well-drained spinach that won't make the dish watery.
The Assembly
Once you've made the bread-garlic-spice paste and returned it to the pan, add the drained chickpeas and about a quarter cup of bean broth. Stir everything together until well combined, creating a thick, sauce-coated mixture. Season with salt and pepper.
Fold in the prepared spinach and cook until heated through. If the consistency seems too thick, add more bean broth a little at a time until you reach the desired texture, it should be saucy but not soupy, thick but not dry.
Serving as a Tapa
Traditionally, espinacas con garbanzos is served as a tapa, a small portion as part of a larger spread. The recipe suggests serving it with:
- A sprinkle of additional paprika and your best olive oil
- A hearty meat and cheese platter
- Gambas al ajillo (garlic shrimp)
- Catalan tomato bread (pan con tomate)
- Flash-fried padrón peppers
- A bright Spanish red wine like Mencía or young Rioja
This creates an authentic Spanish tapas experience where multiple small dishes create a festive, communal meal. Set everything out, pour the wine, and enjoy grazing and conversation.
As a Main Dish
While traditional as a tapa, espinacas con garbanzos makes an excellent vegetarian main dish when served with crusty bread for soaking up the sauce. The chickpeas provide protein, the spinach adds iron and vitamins, and the bread-thickened sauce makes it satisfying.
Serve larger portions over rice or with fried eggs on top for a more substantial meal.
The Andalusian Connection
This dish is quintessentially Andalusian, the southern Spanish region known for its Moorish influences, generous use of olive oil, love of garlic and paprika, and sophisticated vegetable cookery. The technique of thickening with bread, the use of cumin (a Moorish spice), and the sherry vinegar (from Jerez in Andalucía) all connect to the region's history and culinary traditions.
Nostalgic for Spain
As the recipe promises, making this will "surely make you nostalgic for your last trip to Spain." There's something about that combination of smoked paprika, garlic, sherry vinegar, and olive oil that immediately evokes Spanish food. One bite and you're transported to a tapas bar in Sevilla, standing at the bar with a glass of wine and a small plate of espinacas con garbanzos.
Adapted from Spanish Sources
The recipe notes it's adapted from the Spanish blog Mercado Calabajío, maintaining authenticity while making it accessible to English-speaking home cooks. The suggestion to "practice your Spanish" by reading the original is a nice touch, cooking as a way to connect with language and culture.
Simple but Special
What makes espinacas con garbanzos so appealing is how it creates something special from simple ingredients. Chickpeas, spinach, bread, garlic, spices, nothing exotic or expensive, yet the technique and combination create something that tastes complex, sophisticated, and deeply satisfying.
It's proof that Spanish cooking's genius lies not in complicated techniques or rare ingredients but in knowing how to combine simple things in ways that maximize flavor.
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