Well, times have been pretty tough the past few weeks and I don’t know about you but for us the best ‘pick me ups’ come in the form of some delicious food. This spinach and saffron stew with chickpeas is bound to lift your spirits and warm your soul. Not only is it really simple to make, its good for you and it feels super indulgent. With a rich tomato sauce and warm spiced flavour this really is our definition of comfort food! After a long day growing vegetables on the farm there is nothing that helps us cosy down for the night more than a good bowl (or two) of this.
We normally serve ours with a good helping of silky mashed potato (we’ll have to share our recipe for that soon too) but it would also work well with rice, whole grains or simply on its own. To finish we top with Za’atar, a middle Eastern spice made up of dried herbs and sesame seeds. This is increasingly easy to find in most supermarkets but if you are struggling to find it you could substitute some plain toasted sesame seeds or just leave it off altogether.
Let us know if you try it out, we’d love to know what you think!
Ingredients
1tsp vegetable oil
1/2 leek (halved lengthways and finely sliced)
4 cloves garlic (minced)
1 tbsp tomato puree
100ml white wine
1 pinch saffron strands
4 large tomatoes (diced to 1cm)
400ml vegetable stock
400g can of chickpeas
100g spinach (washed and roughly chopped)
15g flat leaf parsley (washed and finely chopped)
Za’atar
Extra virgin olive oil
Method
Sweat the leek over a medium low heat until softened, add the chopped garlic and cook for another minute
Next add the tomato paste and continue to cook for another 2-3 minutes
Pour in the white wine and reduce until at a syrup like consistency
Add the stock, chopped tomatoes, saffron and chickpeas and bring to a boil, reduce the heat and cook on a low simmer for 30 minutes
To finish, add the chopped spinach and parsley and cook until just wilted.
Season with salt and cracked black pepper
Serve over creamy mashed potatoes and finish with a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkling of za’atar