This isn’t a recipe that I would have been excited by before my “Veganist” epiphany. Nancy Harmon Jenkins’ dish relies on Spanish chorizo. I’ve yet to find vegetarian chorizo so made due with Tofurkey brand Italian sausage. To make the olive oil redden, I added a bit of sweet paprika. (In the full on meat version, the chorizo has the paprika inside, which imparts a reddish color as it cooks.

Spanish-style chickpeas with spinach and veggie sausage

I like Jenkins’ book, The Essential Mediterranean, a great deal. The recipes are often familiar, though like this one, many are new to me. She structures the text a bit differently in that after the intro, each section has a long and rather engaging discussion of the main ingredients for that section, including their history in European cuisine and her own personal anecdotes. So the book is practical and yet like an educational travelogue all at once. Sort of blog-like really…

I had already prepared my dried chickpeas so diverged a bit from her instruction here. I don’t think that it made too much difference. Next time I think that I shall try a different type of veggie sausage. The texture and taste weren’t quite what I’d hoped. Nevertheless, the recipe itself is sound.

Spanish-style chickpeas with spinach and veggie sausage

2 cups prepared chickpeas
2 medium onions, both peeled, one left whole, the other chopped
3 bay leaves
Small bunch of Italian parsley
4 tbsp olive oil
1 lb baby spinach
3 cloves garlic
1 package of veggie sausage of your choice, cut into bite-sized rounds
1 tsp paprika
Salt and black pepper to taste
Water

Begin by placing chickpeas into a medium pot with the whole peeled onion, bay leaves, parsley, some salt to taste and enough water to just immerse them. Simmer for about 15 to 20 minutes to flavor them. Remove and discard onion, parsley, and bay leaves. Reserve some of the cooking water and drain the rest.

Add olive oil, chopped onion and garlic to a hot skillet with a pinch of salt. Sauté for a few minutes until onion starts to get tender then add sliced veggie sausage and paprika. Cook for a few minutes. Add chickpeas with a bit of reserved water. Heat through. Add spinach and black pepper. After spinach just wilts, adjust flavors and serve.