Chickpea recipe with chard

Chickpea stew with chard

Chickpeas with chard – Healthy recipe Preparation time2 hours 10 minutesCooking time1hr 55mins _ _ Number of diners: 4

Ingredients: 

• 300 gr of dried chickpeas
• 1 kg of Swiss chard
• 200 g of grated ripe tomato without skin or seeds
• 3 garlic cloves
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 cloves
• 1 slice of bread
• 1 teaspoon cumin powder
• 1 teaspoon sweet paprika
• Olive oil
• Salt to taste

Chickpea stew is a very simple and inexpensive dish, but its preparation requires certain tricks to achieve a unique flavor and creamy texture that will surprise your family and special guests. Among the recipes with chard, this is one of the most typical in Spain, but it is also totally vegetarian and vegan, so it is suitable for practically anyone.

On this occasion, we want to show you the complete traditional preparation, so we will use dried legumes, however, this is one of the most popular recipes with canned chickpeas in the Mediterranean, so you can choose the method of preparation that suits you best., depending on the time available.

The first step is to choose a large bowl to place the chickpeas with plenty of water, so that they are completely submerged, to leave them to soak overnight before preparation. If you want to do this procedure in the day to prepare them at night, then you should calculate 10 to 12 hours. 

Once this time has elapsed, you will notice that the chickpeas have absorbed a large part of the liquid, so you only have to discard the excess water. If you don’t want to throw it away, you can use it to water a plant, as it is very nutritious. Meanwhile, you should heat approximately 1.5 L of water over high heat.

Next, you have to wash well and cut the chard, so that the stems are separated from the leaves. Then, you must cut everything into small pieces, to take the chard to the express pot, along with the drained chickpeas, the bay leaf, the cloves and a little salt.

It is time to use the hot water to completely cover the ingredients that we have in the pressure cooker, to cover and cook over medium-low heat. This cooking will be ready in a period of 15 to 20 minutes, however, you can also do it in a normal pot, only the cooking will take around 90 minutes.

Besides, in a pan you have to prepare the mashed, so you must put a little olive oil to fry the garlic peeled and cut into thin slices, and then remove them to a container. As for the oil that has remained in the pan, it is used to fry the slices of bread, which we will later mix with the garlic and a little chickpea broth, for this it is possible to use the mortar or the hand blender.

In the same pan we can cook the crushed tomato with sweet paprika and cumin. Over medium-low heat, this only takes 5 to 7 minutes, to later incorporate the garlic cream with bread and stir over low heat for 5 more minutes. Then, you just have to add this mashed in the pot with the chickpeas and mix properly. In about 5 minutes over medium heat it will be ready to serve.

Finally, it is worth mentioning that this recipe can be made on an electric, gas, ceramic or induction cooker, as long as the pot and pan are compatible with them.