Spanish · Andalusia · side

Espinacas con Garbanzos

Name: Espinacas con Garbanzos
Prep time: 1 h 51 min
Total time: 1 h 51 min
Cuisine: Spanish · Andalusia
Ingredients: chickpeas — 400 g; spinach — 1000 g; garlic — 16 g; country ham — 50 g; extra virgin olive oil — 74 g; cumin — 6 g; spanish smoked paprika — 6 g; sherry wine — 20 g; dried guindilla chile — 2 g; chickpea cooking liquor — 300 g; salt — 8 g

Espinacas con Garbanzos reads salinity 6.1, umami 6.0 and richness 5.6 on Palate's 0–10 flavor X-ray — a Spanish · Andalusia side, about 1 hr 51 min. Measured from the recipe itself: ingredients and technique.

The flavor X-ray — six axes, 0–10

Umami & Savory — 7.0 / 10
Sweet & Fruity — 2.4 / 10
Sour & Bright — 1.4 / 10
Bitter & Earthy — 4.2 / 10
Rich & Fat — 6.1 / 10
Aromatic & Spice — 4.5 / 10

The measured notes (of 18)

Salinity 6.1 · Umami 6.0 · Richness 5.6 · Allium 4.1 · Smoke 3.5 · Funk & Ferment 3.4 · Earthy 3.0 · Warm Spice 2.3 · Sweetness 2.0 · Nutty 1.8 · Bitterness 1.5 · Fruity 1.4 · Floral 1.3 · Sourness 1.3 · Herbaceous 1.1 · Heat 0.8

What's in it (11)

chickpeas — 400 g
spinach — 1000 g
garlic — 16 g
country ham — 50 g
extra virgin olive oil — 74 g
cumin — 6 g
spanish smoked paprika — 6 g
sherry wine — 20 g
dried guindilla chile — 2 g
chickpea cooking liquor — 300 g
salt — 8 g

Time & effort: about 1 hr 51 min · effort: involved

Nutrition (per 100 g, engine-estimated): 102.7 kcal, 7 g protein, 1.9 g fat, 15.4 g carbs

Dietary: Contains meat — engine-derived; double-check anything allergy-critical.

How it's cooked (6 steps)

Every bar in Seville serves this in a small earthenware dish during Lent and half the year besides. It is a tapa built on a majado — a mortar paste of fried bread, garlic and spice — which is the oldest thickening trick in Andalusian cooking and the reason the dish holds together without flour or cream.
Drain the soaked chickpeas, cover them with fresh unsalted water and simmer 90 minutes until tender but not collapsing. Salt them only in the last 10 minutes. Keep 300 ml of the cooking liquor; that starchy water is what binds the finished dish.
Wilt the spinach in a dry pan in batches over medium heat, 3 minutes in all, turning it with tongs until it just collapses. Tip it into a colander, press out the water firmly, and chop it roughly. Wet spinach makes a watery tapa.
Heat the oil in a wide pan and fry the bread, whole garlic cloves and the guindilla over medium heat for 3 minutes, turning, until the bread is golden on both sides and the garlic is soft. Lift them all out into a mortar.
Add the cumin, pimentón and vinegar to the mortar and pound to a smooth thick paste with a little of the frying oil, about 3 minutes.
Return the chickpeas and spinach to the pan with the remaining oil and toss for 2 minutes. Stir in the majado and the cooking liquor and simmer 10 minutes, stirring, until the liquid has almost gone and the whole thing is glossy and just holding. Season with salt and serve warm, not hot, with bread.

Dishes with a similar flavor shape

Sopa de Ajo Castellana — Spanish · Castile
Erbazzone Reggiano — Italian · Emilia-Romagna
Caldo Verde Brasileiro — Brazilian
Loaded Baked Potato Soup with Crispy Bacon — American
Arroz con Pollo — Cuban

Keep reading: what salinity, umami, richness mean in the flavor lexicon · the world's cuisines, by flavor.

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Every number above is Palate's engine-measured estimate, computed from this recipe's ingredients and techniques — not human-tasted ratings or reviews.