My Inner Spanish Obsession

Did I say inner obsession?  Meh.  I realize it may not be such a secret after all.  And, of course, you all know about my feelings toward the Minimalist.  Needless to say, when my two not-so-secret obsessions collided, my interest was piqued, to say the least.  The day this recipe appeared on Bitten, my roommate Diane and I put it on our calendars to try out ASAP.  I give you: Chickpeas and Chorizo!

I wish this picture were a bit less flashed, but hey, we ate late, Spanish-style.  It's all about the autenticidad with me.  Obviously.

Here's Mr. Bittman's.

 Fried Chickpeas With Chorizo and Spinach

adapted from Mark Bittman's The Minimalist column

Ingredients:

1/4 cup olive oil, plus more for drizzling

2 cups cooked or canned chickpeas, as dry as possible

Salt and black pepper

4 ounces chorizo, diced

1/2 pound spinach, roughly chopped (We used more like 3/4 pound baby spinach and there could have even been more.)

1/4 cup sherry

1 to 2 cups bread crumbs (We used way less than that, like maybe 1/2 cup?  No idea what he's talking about there.)

Method:

1. Heat the broiler. 

2. Put three tablespoons of the oil in a skillet large enough to hold chickpeas in one layer over medium-high heat. (I recommend heating the dry pan for a minute before adding the oil.)  When it’s hot, add chickpeas and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

3. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook, shaking the pan occasionally, until chickpeas begin to brown, about 10 minutes, then add chorizo. Continue cooking for another 5 to 8 minutes or until chickpeas are crisp; use a slotted spoon to remove chickpeas and chorizo from pan and set aside.

4. Add the remainder of the 1/4 cup of oil to the pan; when it’s hot, add spinach and sherry, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and cook spinach over medium-low heat until very soft and the liquid has evaporated. Add chickpeas and chorizo back to the pan and toss quickly to combine; top with bread crumbs, drizzle with a bit more oil and run pan under the broiler to lightly brown the top. Serve hot or at room temperature.

This recipe came out pretty much awesome.  The chickpeas were really crispy, the spinach offset all the oil, and the chorizo basically flavored the entire thing.  It would be an AWESOME dinner party dish.

Now, I'm probably about to lose some street cred with a lot of you, but I highly recommend knowing where your oven's broiler is located before attempting this recipe.  Genius tip, I know.  I always knew that when you broil, then heat comes from above.  So I set the oven to broil, moved the top oven rack to the highest setting and let 'er rip.  After many minutes of absolutely no browning, I consulted Diane's friend, a culinary school graduate, who informed me that my broiler was actually below the oven.  Pardon?  You mean that shelf where I store pots and pans?  Turns out I had broiled the hell out of a shallow pot, but our chickpeas were not getting any browner sitting in a warmish oven.  PHEW.  And now you know.

I can't say that I often have chorizo in the house, so I had to rack my brain a little to come up with a good use for the leftovers.  I threw a little bit into a shakshuka, an Israeli dish that Joanna turned me on to in college.

 

Sorry, more ugly pics.  Shakshuka is not an attractive food, but I had leftover canned crushed tomatoes and one egg, and this chorizo, and it all just fell into place.  It's DELICIOUS.  Sometimes the ugliest foods really are the best, no?  I mean, seriously, have you ever looked at a brownie?  It's not winning any pageants.

With the rest of the chickpeas and chorizo, I put together an impromptu lunch the other day, drawing on inspiration from another Bittman creation (see "Best Repeat Recipe").

 

Fried Chickpeas and Chorizo Salad

Ingredients:

1/2 cup cooked or canned chickpeas

2 tsp olive oil

1 small clove garlic

1/2 tsp cumin seeds

1 oz diced cured chorizo

salt, to taste

veggie salad base (mine was baby spinach, thinly sliced red onion, and chopped red bell pepper)

Method:

1. Heat a small pan for about a minute, then add the oil and heat one more minute.

2. Add the chickpeas and stir around a bit.

3. About 3 minutes in, add the garlic and cumin seeds.  (You don't want to do this right at the start otherwise the garlic will just burn.)

4. After another minute or so add the chorizo and continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until the chickpeas are nicely browned and crispy and the chorizo is heated through.  (If it's cured, then it's already safe to eat as is -- it just needs to be warmed.)  Add salt to taste.

5. Prepare salad base and top with warm chickpeas and chorizo.

Voila!  A Freya creation.  So so so satisfying.  I really only needed a small portion because the flavors were so rich and there was probably a high fat content.  But it kept me full a while.  Yay creativity!