Espinacas con Garbanzos

the Moorish legacy of Seville: spinach wilted with olive oil and folded with braised chickpeas in an Arab-spiced tomato and bread-thickened sauce of cumin, smoked paprika, and vinegar; one of the oldest continuously made spinach dishes in Europe

Origin: Moorish Al-Andalus — Seville and the Guadalquivir Valley, Spain

From the journey of Spinach.

Espinacas con garbanzos (spinach with chickpeas) is one of the most direct living survivals of the Moorish culinary tradition that the Arab and Berber settlers of the Iberian Peninsula (711–1492 CE) brought with them from the broader Islamic world. The combination (two ingredients, spinach and chickpea, that both entered Iberia through Arab agricultural influence) is described in recognisable form in the agricultural and culinary texts of al-Andalus, including Ibn al-Awwam's Kitāb al-Filāḥa of 12th-century Seville. The spice palette (cumin, coriander, paprika in its later post-Columbian form), the bread picada for thickening, and the vinegar for balance are all consistent with the Arabised cooking style that persisted in the kitchens of southern Spain long after the Reconquista, surviving the political change of 1492 in the habits and palates of the Andalusian population. Today espinacas con garbanzos is one of the defining tapas of Seville, ordered in most tabernas and bodegas as a tapa de cuchareo (a 'spoon tapa', served warm in a small terracotta dish with bread). The Sevillano version is typically quite thick and saucy, the chickpeas soft and yielding into the spinach base, the sauce dark and deeply flavoured from the cooked-down tomato, spice, and bread combination. It is a dish that asks for good bread: you eat it by scooping, not by spearing. The paprika that appears in most modern versions postdates the Moorish period (paprika is a New World spice that entered Spain in the 16th century), but it has been integrated so thoroughly into the Andalusian spice palette that it is now inseparable from the dish in its contemporary form, a reminder that food traditions are living and accumulative, adding new elements even as they preserve old structures.

Ingredients

Base

400 g tin of chickpeas, drained, or 200 g dried chickpeas (soaked overnight and boiled until tender)
4 tbsp good extra-virgin olive oil
3 garlic cloves, finely sliced
1 slice day-old white bread, crusts removed, torn into pieces
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp smoked paprika (pimentón de la Vera)
0.5 tsp ground coriander
0.25 tsp dried chilli flakes (optional)
400 g tinned chopped tomatoes
1 tbsp sherry vinegar or red wine vinegar
1 tsp fine salt, plus more to taste

Spinach

500 g baby spinach or trimmed flat-leaf spinach

To Finish

1 tsp extra-virgin olive oil, to finish

Method

Heat 3 tbsp olive oil in a large, wide pan or deep frying pan over medium heat. Add the bread pieces and fry, turning, until golden and crisp on all sides, about 3–4 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside. Add the sliced garlic to the same oil and cook gently for 1–2 minutes until just golden at the edges; do not allow it to brown further. Remove the garlic and set aside with the bread.
Add the remaining tablespoon of oil to the pan. Add the cumin, paprika, coriander, and chilli flakes (if using) and stir for 30 seconds to bloom the spices in the oil. Add the tinned tomatoes and cook over medium-high heat, stirring, for 8–10 minutes until the tomatoes have broken down and the sauce has thickened and darkened.
Using a small food processor, mini chopper, or mortar and pestle, grind the fried bread and garlic to a rough, crumbly paste. Add 2–3 tablespoons of water and blend to a smooth picada.
Add the chickpeas to the tomato sauce, stir to coat, and cook for 5 minutes to heat through and allow the chickpeas to absorb some of the tomato flavour. Stir in the picada and the sherry vinegar. Season with the salt. The sauce should be thick and coarsely textured.
Add the spinach in large handfuls, turning it into the chickpea and tomato base. Cook, stirring, for 2–3 minutes until the spinach has completely wilted and is incorporated into the sauce. Taste and adjust for salt and vinegar.
Serve warm in small terracotta dishes or bowls with a drizzle of fresh olive oil. Accompany with good crusty bread; this is a tapa de cuchareo (spoon tapa), eaten by scooping rather than spearing.

Notes

Pimentón de la Vera (smoked paprika from Extremadura) is preferred over sweet paprika for its smoky depth, which adds a dimension that sweet paprika does not. A small pinch of ground cloves or cinnamon may be added with the other spices in the authentically Moorish style; it is unusual but historically accurate and flavourful. Sherry vinegar is the classic acidulant for Sevillano cooking; its nutty, oxidised character is different from red wine vinegar and worth using if available. The dish keeps well refrigerated and improves overnight; the bread picada will thicken the sauce further on standing, add a splash of water when reheating.

The Gastrographer

Name: Espinacas con Garbanzos
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 45 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Spain
Ingredients: 400 g tin of chickpeas, drained, or 200 g dried chickpeas (soaked overnight and boiled until tender); 4 tbsp good extra-virgin olive oil; 3 garlic cloves, finely sliced; 1 slice day-old white bread, crusts removed, torn into pieces; 1 tsp ground cumin; 1 tsp smoked paprika (pimentón de la Vera); 0.5 tsp ground coriander; 0.25 tsp dried chilli flakes (optional); 400 g tinned chopped tomatoes; 1 tbsp sherry vinegar or red wine vinegar; 1 tsp fine salt, plus more to taste; 500 g baby spinach or trimmed flat-leaf spinach; 1 tsp extra-virgin olive oil, to finish

Mapping Culinary History

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Journey Point Map Key

Ingredient originTrade or transit route

Became a culinary stapleColonial / trade control