EP 1: Moroccan Chickpea Stew
Moroccan Chickpea Stew
Serves: 6
Difficulty: Easy
Prep time: ~10 minutes
Cook time: ~1 hour
Chickpeas are the main ingredient in this Moroccan flavored, hearty soup.
2 tbs extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for garnish
1 large onion, medium diced
6 cloves garlic, pressed
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground cumin
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1 heaping tsp (sweet) paprika
1 (14.5 oz) can chopped tomatoes
3 (15 oz ) cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed well
1-quart vegetable broth (substitute water if no broth on hand)
1 tsp sugar
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 (5 oz) package pre-washed baby spinach (or 1 block frozen spinach)
Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the onion, sauté until the onions begin to turn translucent. Add the garlic to the onions. Lower the heat if browning starts to occur. Add the cinnamon, cumin, cayenne and paprika and sauté a minute or so. Add tomatoes, chickpeas, broth and sugar. Season with a couple pinches of salt and ~10 grinds of fresh pepper. Stir well. The chickpeas should be slightly covered with liquid. If the level is too low, add some water to bring it just above the chickpeas. Bring the mixture to a simmer, and then lower the heat to low and gently simmer for 45 minutes.
Remove the soup from heat. Use a potato masher to mash up some of the chickpeas right in the pot. Stir in the spinach and let it heat through until wilted, just a few minutes. Season again, to taste, with salt and pepper. Serve the soup, drizzled with extra-virgin olive oil if desired.
Notes:
Great served with toasted pita bread.
Frozen spinach works very nicely.
Using water instead of veggie broth is totally acceptable and won’t alter the taste.
The spices can be adjusted if the flavor is too strong or too weak. Heat lovers can add more cayenne if they’d like more punch.
Love this recipe, it has become my new favorite dish and its so inexpensive to make. I have tried all the Vegan a Go Go recipes after signing up for the podcast on itunes. Keep up the great work guys.
December 14th, 2007 at 11:09 am
Xyliana turned me on to this recipe, and now it’s my favorite dish too. It’s excellent with extra garlic.
I whipped up a lunch variation, minus the broth and not mashed, with roasted chilis instead of the cayenne pepper, served as a cold salad on a bed of fresh spinach. This combination of flavors works in any form.
December 28th, 2007 at 10:04 am
First impression… get your knife sharpen before you hurt your self!!!
Thanks for the pod cast and the nice recipe. Looking forward to other shows.
Cheers!
January 15th, 2008 at 6:17 pm
This is a delicious recipe, I forgot the spinach (and the cayenne pepper) and used some fresh chopped parsley and basil instead and it worked okay. Thanks a lot, this is going in my repertoire…
dc
January 22nd, 2008 at 12:03 pm
This is so tasty, it’s like a party in my mouth and everyone’s having sex! I haven’t even got it off the stove yet.
I can not thank you enough for this recipe…. I think I’ll buy T-Shirt
July 18th, 2008 at 5:21 am
Wow, this stew was full of flavour and really yummy! Usually I have to put more herbs/spices than a recipe says but in this case they were already just right. I didn’t bother to mash half the soup and I had to use some canned spinach as my supermarket didn’t have any baby but it was totally tops – thanks!
August 21st, 2008 at 7:14 pm
A delicious and simple recipe!
I used 3/4 of a fresh pepper, chopped, instead of the cayenne and substituted somogh for cinammon (since I had neither of those ingredients).
I think I’d have preferred cinammon but it’s a great recipe – simple enough that I’ll be making it fairly regularly from now on, I’m sure.
April 8th, 2009 at 12:11 pm