Have you ever tried to cook your own chick peas? Have you achieved a good result the first time you tried? Have they been tender and tasty? Of course it's always easier to buy a can of precooked chick peas but I enjoy learning and preparing things by myself and chick peas have been a hard challenge for a long time.So, here you have some tips and tricks to get soft home made garbanzos :D.
* When soaking them in water: do it the previous night, double volume of water, hot/warm water, add a teaspoon of salt. Only if the chick peas are a bit old, add also a teaspoon of bicarbonate.* When cooking them: Pour the chick peas into boiling water and make sure the water never stops boiling until they become tender.
* Adding herbs or a ham bone will improve their taste and flavour.
I'm sending this recipe to Running with Tweezers and her Souper Soup Challenge, is there anything better than a hot soup during cold winter days?
Also sending it to Tasty Recipes and her event SWC: Soups. Because we all want to eat healthy, don't we?
There's still some days to send your recipes to both events... surely you have a soup you want to share :D.
Ingredients for 4 servings: 300 grs of dry chickpeas, 300 grs of fresh spinach, 100 grs of smoked bacon, 2 onion, 1 ham bone, 3 ripe tomatoes (if you don't have then 3 table spoons of canned fried tomatoe), 3 garlic cloves, olive oil, and salt.
- Soak the chickpeas hot water the previous day (see tips).
- Get water boiling in a big pot. Make sure it doubles the volume of the chickpeas. Add the ham bone and 1 onion to the water and some salt. When it boils, strain the chickpeas and add to the pot. Make sure the boiling doesn't stop. It can take 1 or 2 or even 3 hours to get them soft, it will all depend on how old are they. Taste now and then to see if they are soft enough. If you should add some water, boil it aside in a different pot and add it to the chickpeas pot only when it boils.
- Meanwhile, pour some oil in a casserole, fry the bacon cut in strips, when golden, reserve. Peel and cut the other onion and fry at low heat until it becomes transparent, then add the chopped garlic and when fragrant the tomatoes. When the tomatoes have lost its water add the bacon back and stir for 2 minutes.
- When you see the chickpeas are getting soft, add the bacon and veggies sofrito to the big pot and stir. Once they are tender, add the cleaned and dry spinach leaves and cook for 5 more minutes. Taste and add some salt if needed.
- Enjoy!
In the mood for more soups? Try this one and impress your guests! Tomatoe Soup with Shrimps. No more soups? maybe you prefer a legume based dish like this one: Fabes con Almejas, land and sea in a perfect marriage. Or a greener option... Green peas with eggs and bacon.
As soon as I post this dish, I'm running to my terrace with a beer and some nuts... the sun is shouting my name and I don't want to make it angry ;D.
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