Mediterranean Food - Fried Chick Peas with Chorizo and Spinash

I first saw this recipe in one of my favorite Mediterranean food blogs: Tobias Cooks! Mediterranean cuisine for everyday. My favorite food to cook is rustic Mediterranean dishes that you can add your own touches and improvise slightly. Tobias has a great recipe collection of Greek and Mediterranean dishes, shows great photos, and gives easy instructions on how to prepare the food to perfection.

This recipe originates from Spain and is a good complimentary to our previous post Travelling in Andalucia. The recipe comes from another chef and food writer Mark Bitman you can see the video of Mark Bitman preparing the Chick Peas with Spinach and Chorizo dish here. Or visit the NY times for Mark’s recipe here.

For this recipe I have used the Portuguese Dry Cured Chorico, a milder and spiced diferently from its Spanish version.

You can serve this as tapas or as a side dish to anything grilled.



Here is the recipe:

1 medium onion
1/4 cup olive oil, plus more for drizzling
2 cups cooked or canned chickpeas, as dry as possible
Salt and black pepper
Ground cumin
4 ounces chorizo
1/2 pound spinach, roughly chopped
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar (my preference), port or sherry

Heat the olive oil and cook the chopped onions until brown almost crispy. Sautee the chorico until cooked and slightly crispy (set aside leaving the oil on the pan) add the chickpeas, salt and peper, ground cumin (or any other herb or spices) to taste. Continue cooking for another 5 to 8 minutes or until chickpeas are crisp set aside with the chorico.

Add the spinach and balsamic vinegar to the pan and cook until water has evaporated. Add chickpeas and chorico back to the pan and toss quickly to combine. Check for salt and pepper. Serve hot or at room temperature.