Potaje de vigilia chickpea stew with cod and spinach

Today we eat chickpea stew with cod and spinach. It is so called because during Lent, Catholics are encouraged not to eat meat on Fridays as a form of penance before Easter. It is optional, of course, but at home we like to do it.

In addition, this dish is rich, tasty, super complete and healthy: it has many nutrients, vegetables, lots of fiber and is also high in protein due to the cod and legumes.

INGREDIENTS: ( 4 pax)

• 350 gr chickpeas
• 300 gr of spinach fresh
• 350 gr of desalted cod
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 slice of bread
• 2 spring onions
• 1 dessert spoonful of paprika
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• Salt
• Olive oil
• Water
• Optional: chopped hard boiled egg

STEP-BY-STEP PREPARATION:

1. The night before, I soak the chickpeas in warm water with half a teaspoon of salt and baking soda (it is said that this will make them more tender and more digestive).
2. The next day we strain them, and we throw them in a pressure cooker covered with 3 fingers of water, with two teaspoons of salt, two bay leaves, half onion and two cloves of garlic peeled and with a blow so that they open a little. We close the pot and put on high heat, and when the steam starts to come out, we leave 20 minutes over medium heat (be careful! this is a fast cooking pot, but it depends on the type of pot you have. I advise you to look at the cooking times according to the model you have).
3. In the meantime, in a frying pan, pour a dash of olive oil and brown a garlic. Remove it and put it in a mortar.
4. In the same oil we brown a slice of bread, better only the crumb, and if it is fresh bread, not sliced, better. We put it together with the garlic in the mortar.
5. Then, in the same oil or, if it has absorbed all the bread when frying, we add a little more, we poach over low heat the remaining onion and a half cut in brunoise, with a little salt and until it is transparent, about ten minutes.
6. When the chickpeas are cooked, open the pot when all the steam has escaped and strain the chickpeas.
7. We take the half boiled onion together with the chickpeas and we also put it in the mortar, as well as a handful of chickpeas. We add the cumin, and we crush everything, bread, garlic, onion and chickpeas. This is a paste that we reserve it to add to the stew later and it will serve us to thicken the stew so that it is not watery.
8. Once the onion is poached, add the paprika with the fire always low, so that it does not burn, and stir (if it burns it will give you a bitter taste that we do not want). Add the cooked chickpeas, stir and cover with water, about a finger more. We raise the fire to boil and then we leave it on medium heat. Our chickpeas with cod and spinach stew is almost ready.
9. The next step is to add the spinach little by little, in batches. When they are all soft and integrated with the broth, I add the majado. Let it cook over medium heat for about ten minutes, stirring from time to time so that the broth thickens and all the flavors blend. If you see that the broth is still too watery to your taste, remove another handful of chickpeas, mash them by crushing them in a mortar and pestle and add them back to the pot and cook for five more minutes.
10. Finally, add the cod in small pieces, and let it cook for five minutes. Taste the broth and adjust the salt if you like it needs more, but it is not usual because the cod, although desalted, always provides some salt.
11. We can also boil a couple of eggs, chop them and put them on top of the dish when serving.

And this one is already chickpea stew with cod and spinach I hope you liked it, it's super comforting, nutritious, healthy, delicious... I hope you liked it.

I remind you that on my instagram @cocinayviajes  you have a lot of recommendations, raffles and other recipes.

With all my love,

Mireia Alum