Family recipe, el potaje (Spanish chickpea stew)

When the first cold days of autumn arrive, I always feel like the Spanish chickpea stew. I prepare it as I have seen it make to my mother, who in her turn learned it from her mother. They are recipes that go from one generation to another and no one writes because they are easy to remember.

“Potaje” is a stew with vegetables and legumes, to which add, once made, a stir-fry with garlic and (sweet or spicy) paprika.  I remember my father really liked spicy food; for this reason, he put some drops of Tabasco sauce on his plate (well spicy) because my mother prepared the garlic stir-fry with sweet paprika; since, as a rule, little children do not like spicy very much.

Today, all of us prepare the stew with a spicy touch, adding some dried chili pepper during the cooking or using spicy paprika. But my mother and my brother, besides, add Tabasco sauce on their plates.                  

The stew we prepare in my family is as follows:

• Leave the small white beans and chickpeas to soak overnight.  The next day, place the legumes in a stew pot and fill with cold water.  
• When legumes are half cooked, add diced potatoes, sliced carrots and a pinch of sea salt (to taste),  cover and let it simmer.  
• When the legumes start to be tender with the help of a skimmer and a fork, mash some of them and some of the potatoes to give the stew a thicker texture, stir and leave it to simmer. 
• When all the ingredients are cooked, add the spinach, previously washed and cut. 
• Meanwhile, in a skillet heat extra virgin olive oil, add sliced cloves garlic and when golden brown, remove the skillet from heat and let cool the oil down. Add a large spoon of paprika (sweet or spicy, as desired), stir and pour it over the stew in the stew pot. Stir and ready. 

◼ My mother adds, at the start of the cooking, a coffee cup of whole grain rice, so the stew has a high nutritional value. Instead, I like accompanying the stew by a large slice of (kamut or whole wheat spelt or rye) bread. 

◼ In ancient times, what to have been known was that the food prepared in a traditional way and with fresh seasonal ingredients, was healthy and that the combinations among foods, many of them come from the old farmers, were right to keep good health. 

◼ Today, with the advances of science, we are told that if we combine legumes with cereals, we get a high quality protein. 

◼ The stew the same as vegetable stocks are dishes that the day after they have been prepared they are still tastier because the savors have been concentrated. They are very simple dishes, with few ingredients, easy to prepare and very nutritious.

Ingredients:

100 g white beans 

100 g Pedrosillano chickpeas (or another variety) 

4 large potatoes 

2 large carrots 

4 cloves garlic 

170 g  spinach  (previously picked over and washed)

 paprika  (sweet or spicy)

 extra virgin olive oil 

sea salt (to taste)

1/2  coffee cup whole grain rice (if desired)

>> see more stew recipes