Guisat de cigrons
Posted Under: dairy-free, gluten-free, hearty, soup, winter
Today marks six years with my favorite food-taster, dishwasher, and dinner companion. We’re headed out to a neighborhood favorite this evening to celebrate, so there will be no cooking tonight. Instead, I thought I’d post a recipe Jeff made for me when we were first dating, and which has become one of my favorite winter dishes. This was before I’d even been to Spain, let alone developed the obsession I currently have with its food and wine, but it turned out to be an indicator of things to come. Guisat de cigrons is Catalan and translates to “chickpea stew.” The English sounds much more ordinary than this dish actually is, though it is, like most stews, relatively easy to make. The key is getting good meats and making sure you’ve left enough time for the pot to simmer and the flavors to meld into one another. This stew is the kind that gets better after sitting overnight, perfect to keep in the fridge and steal bowls from over and over during a dreary February week.
The original inspiration came from a back issue of Saveur, now lost, though we have never once made it exactly as instructed in that recipe, having never had every ingredient specified. I’m pulling this from a messy piece of notebook paper where I’ve scribbled the basic ideas, but it changes a little each time. If you like things very garlicky, by all means add more; the original definitely called for what seemed to me like an absurd amount. If you’re vegetarian, I bet it would be easy to adapt this to a meatless version. (An added dose of some good olive oil and upping the paprika to make up for what you’d lose from the chorizo, plus a bit more spinach would be moves in the right direction, I think.) It’s up to you. I will tell you that the best version I made was with a bag of Rancho Gordo dried chickpeas that I soaked and cooked ahead the day before, but that takes more foresight than I usually have, and canned work just fine, too.
For me, the steam from a pot of this stew conjures fond memories of moving from the early stages of dinners out and getting-to-know you questions to dinners in and proffered wooden spoons for tasting. I hope this dish works just a little of that magic for you, too.
Guisat de cigrons
⅓ cup olive oil
2 medium yellow onions, chopped
6 cloves garlic, peeled & minced
¼ tsp sweet paprika
1 bay leaf
3 oz serrano ham (ask the butcher to cut you 1 thick slice), cut into small cubes
3 oz spicy chorizo, cut into small cubes
6 tbsp tomato paste
⅓ cup dry white wine
4 cups chickpeas
1 bunch spinach, rinsed and coarsely chopped
Heat ⅓ cup olive oil in large-ish, heavy-bottomed pot (I use a 5-qt dutch oven) over medium-low heat. Add onions, garlic, paprika, and bay leaf. Cook, stirring often, until onions are very soft. (approx. 30 mins.)
Add serrano ham and chorizo and cook 4-5 mins.
Add tomato paste and cook for 3 more minutes, stirring frequently.
Add wine and cook until alcohol evaporates, 2-3 minutes.
Add 6 cups cold water and increase the heat to high. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium, and continue to simmer until liquid has reduced by about a third, 45 minutes or so.
Add chickpeas and warm through, 10-12 minutes. Add spinach and cook until just wilted.
Discard bay leaf, season with salt and pepper to taste. Optional garnish: one hard-cooked egg, quartered, per bowl, floating on top.
Serve with a torn-off chunk of good bread or, even better, with pan con tomate, toasted bread rubbed with cut garlic and a cut tomato, drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with just a little coarse salt.
Yields: 6 servings
Time to make: 30 min prep, 1½ hr total cooking time
