Right now, in the depths of winter, when the sky is grey and the sidewalks are slushy and covered in a layer of chalky road salt, we could all use a little color in our lives. Today’s recipe is exactly what you need to counter all that – just look at how vibrant it is! We based this on a recipe we originally found in Bon Appétit, but we changed things around based on our preferences and what we could find in our local supermarket, and we loved the result. Here you’ll get to make some creamy vegetables and spicy chickpeas and your own hot and flavorful sauce entirely from scratch, then put it all together to create a dish that’s warm, filling, spicy, and of course tasty. We’ll show you here how to make this unique and interesting dinner from start to finish.
You’ll need:
- Vegetable oil
- 3 shallots
- A 9- or 10-ounce package of frozen spinach
- Flour
- Half-and-half
- A 15-ounce can of chickpeas
- Fennel seeds
- Cumin seeds
- Tomato paste
- 2 red bell peppers
- Garlic
- Smoked paprika
- Olive oil
- Dried guajillo peppers
- 4 hot cherry peppers
- Vinegar
- Jarred Calabrian chiles
- A lemon
- Naan or another type of flatbread – we used Atoria’s Family Bakery garlic naan
You’ll want to first do a bunch prep work: take your cherry peppers and slice then up, then place them in a small bowl. Pour in enough vinegar to cover all the slices, then set this aside to let the peppers pickle. Also, take 3 dried guajillos and place them in a glass along with a generous amount of warm water to let them rehydrate.
Next, take your two red bell peppers and place them over the open flame of your stovetop burners. Let them char on the outside, turning them with a pair of tongs until they’re evenly blackened all over. Remove them from the heat and place them into a plastic bag, then tie the bag closed to let them steam for 20 minutes before peeling off the outer skin and scooping out all their seeds with a spoon.
Now measure out 2 teaspoons of cumin seeds and 2 teaspoons of fennel seeds and place them in a small pan. Toast them over medium heat for 2 minutes, then transfer them to either a mortar and pestle or a food processor running on a low speed and crush them together into a powder.
Place this spice mix into your food processor along with the red bell peppers (minus their skins and seeds), 2 tablespoons of tomato paste, 5 whole garlic cloves, a tablespoon of smoked paprika, the guajillos (without their soaking water) and 5 tablespoons of olive oil, plus some salt and pepper. Scoop half the cherry peppers from the vinegar and place those in as well, then cut your lemon in half and squeeze in the juice from one half.
Mix everything together, adding another tablespoon or so of olive oil if needed, until you have a smooth sauce that looks something like this:
Now you’ll also want to make a crispy shallot topping by taking one shallot and using a mandoline slicer to cut it into thin rings. Separate the rings as much as possible, then place them into a pan and cover with vegetable oil.
Cook over medium-low heat, stirring around frequently with a fork, until the shallot is browned but not burned. Use your fork to transfer the shallot to a plate covered with two sheets of paper towels and sprinkle the rings with salt, then set aside to let them cool.
Now thaw your spinach by microwaving it for 3 to 4 minutes, then place it in a strainer and use your hands to press it down and squeeze out as much water as possible. Cut the other two shallots thinly on the mandoline slicer and place them in a pot with a tablespoon of vegetable oil. Cook over medium heat for 3 minutes, then add in the spinach, a tablespoon of flour, and some salt and cook for another minute. Pour in 1/2 cup of half-and-half and 1/2 cup of water and cook for around 4 minutes until you get a nice creamed spinach.
Next, drain your chickpeas, and in a separate pot mix the chickpeas with 1/2 cup of your spicy sauce and 1/4 cup of half-and-half, plus some salt. Cook over medium heat for 5 minutes, then scoop out the rest of your cherry peppers, chop them up, and stir into the chickpeas.
Finally, toast your naan for a minute on each side over your stove’s burners, then cut it into wedges. Spread the creamed spinach at the bottom of a serving dish, then place the chickpeas on top and scatter the crispy shallots over everything. Garnish with some whole Calabrian chiles and the naan on the side.
And you can eat the chickpeas and spinach scooped onto the naan, served with wedges of lemon.
OK, we’ll admit: all that is kind of a lot of work. But it’s an interesting challenge to make everything from scratch – the pickled cherry peppers, the charred bell peppers, the spice mix, the spicy sauce, and the fried shallots – then bring it all together to make this interesting combo of creamed spinach, chickpeas, and peppers. Paired with some naan, it turns into a type of dip, but we thought it was substantial enough to serve as our dinner on the night we made it. We liked the creaminess paired with the heat and the other spices, and it certainly brought some color into our kitchen. This meal is probably best undertaken as a project for a day when you’ve got a block of free time, so when you’ve got that ability to undertake a serious recipe, go ahead and try this one out.