Spanish Garbanzo Stew - KindSoups

This one surprised me.  It wouldn't have tempted me, but I made it to give away.  Well, we ended up each having seconds and loving it even more each subsequent day.  It's a keeper.  I didn't use any thickener, but put about a quart of it into the blender to puree it, added it back in, and added croutons afterwards.  All delicious.  Everyone on the zoom call that day did it differently, and all were satisfied with the results.  As we have said on every soup zoom, soup is very forgiving.  

On Monday,  October 10th we’ll be cooking Spain On A Fork’s Potaje de Garbanzos (Spanish Garbanzo Stew) with KindChef Denise Schleckser. 

Ingredients

• 16 tbsp extra virgin olive oil 65 ml, divided
• 2 onions
• 2 green bell pepper
• 2 red bell pepper
• 2 heads garlic
• 4 tomatoes, grated (or 2 14.5 cans crushed or diced tomatoes)
• 4 large potatoes
• 80 oz cooked canned garbanzo beans 570 grams (about 5 cans)
• 4 tsp sweet smoked Spanish paprika 2.30 grams (I used 3.5 tsp sweet and 1/2 tsp smoked) 
• 12 cups vegetable broth 710 ml
• 4 bay leaves
• 8 slices baguette - I sliced and toasted this to make croutons.
• 4 eggs - I didn't use any 
• sea salt & black pepper
•  freshly chopped parsley

Instructions

1. Cut potatoes (peeled & washed) into small chunks that are 1/2 inch (1.25 cm) thick, roughly chop green & red bell peppers, roughly dice onions, roughly mince garlic, finely grate tomato and drain chickpeas into a sieve and rinse under cold water

2. Heat a stock pot with a medium-high heat and cover bottom well with extra virgin olive oil

3. After heating the olive oil for 1 minute, add in the diced onion, chopped bell peppers and minced garlic, mix with the olive oil, after 5 minutes and the vegetables are lightly sauteed, add in the grated tomato and cook for 1 to 2 minutes, then add in the chopped potatoes, drained chickpeas, sweet smoked paprika and season with sea salt & black pepper, gently mix together until well combined

4. Then add in vegetable broth and bay leaves, mix together and bring to a boil, then place a lid on the stock pot and lower the fire to a low-medium heat

5. Meanwhile, roughly chop remaining 8 cloves cloves garlic and cut slices of baguette into small squares

6. Heat a small fry pan with a medium heat and add in remaining extra virgin olive oil, after 2 minutes add in the chopped garlic and cook for 1 to 2 minutes or until lightly sauteed, then add the garlic into a mortar, then using the same pan with the same heat, add in eggs and cook until well done, including the egg yolk, then add into the mortar with the garlic, and finally fry the pieces of baguette in the same pan until lightly fried, add into the mortar, then add in 2 tbsp (7.60 grams) fresh parsley and a pinch of sea salt, using a pestle pound down until paste is formed.

7. After simmering the stew for 25 minutes, remove the lid, add the thickener and mix together, cook for another 2 minutes with the lid off, then remove from the heat

8. Transfer the stew into shallow bowls and sprinkle with freshly chopped parsley, enjoy!

Recipe Notes

*If you do not have a mortar and pestle, a food processor may be used to break down the thickening ingredients (bread and egg).

*If you’ve never grated a tomato, we suggest you give it a try, it’s fun! Here is a helpful link: https://food-hacks.wonderhowto.com/how-to/grate-fresh-tomatoes-instead-buying-canned-you-can-thank-us-later-0170050/. However, especially when scaling up the ingredients, canned crushed tomatoes will work as a good substitute. One pound of tomatoes (5-6 tomatoes) is about equal to a 14.5 oz can. Feel free to use the whole can in this recipe.

*When using smoked paprika, go easy unless you know how much you like. The recipe calls for “sweet smoked” paprika, which is a little confusing. I used mostly sweet and added a bit of smoked.