Chickpea Stew

I love chickpeas!

CASE: This is a great wintry stew for cold nights, or for when you know you'll want leftovers for days. It's especially fun to make when all those dark, rich leafy greens are in season. I made this for Ann and Susie one day. I think I had leftover bacon and bread, and of course lots of cans of chickpeas. I just felt like eating something I could dunk the bread into and have it be hot and spicy and greasy and delicious. And honestly, I think one of these days I'll make a vegetarian version. I really think it could work.

1 large onion, finely chopped
4 garlic cloves
2 t finely choped rosemary
2 bay leaves
1/2 pound chorizo
1/2 pound bacon
1 pinch of red pepper flakes
1 28 oz can of chopped tomatoes
1 can tomato paste
1 cup chicken broth (store-bought is fine)
2 cans of chickpeas
Lots of leafy vegetables chopped up, even spinach is fine, but I prefer kale, mustard greens, even collard greens.

Saute the onion in olive oil and a bit of butter. Add the garlic, rosemary and bay leaf and cook for a minute or two more. Add the chorizo and bacon, cook for a minute or two. Add the chopped tomatoes and cook until it gets hot! Add the pepper flakes, salt, tomato paste and chicken broth to taste and visual preference. (Myself, I like it looking brothy. I also prefer this soup spicy, although I am not a spicy food person.) Stir in chickpeas, and then stir in greens until they wilt up. Simmer and stew until it tastes right. I like a longer stew, so 30 minutes for me, but 10 minutes should be fine.

Serve with a nice chunk of bread. I *suppose* you could make big croutons and dump them on the top, but I like eating with my hands, thank you very much.

NOTE: This started from a Catalonia-n recipe, so it starts with a sofrito, and it's pretty important to not just toss it all in together. I am quite convinced that a sofrito is a critical step in building a "guilty" soup. It just makes the flavors have more depth and oomph. If you're adding collard greens, use your brain, stew it for longer or add them earlier.

VERDICT: GUILTY! OF BEING DELICIOUS!