Watching not only the number of positive cases in California continue to rise dramatically, but also the positivity rate (which has gone from 4.8% a couple of weeks ago, to 7.4% today), is pretty gut-wrenching. For those of you who don't know, I run a baking business delivering cupcakes and other sweet treats, and business has been very slow in recent weeks. The corporate orders that were probably 60% of my business prior to mid March, have dried up pretty much completely because there are no workers in the office to feed those cupcakes to, no conferences or meetings to cater and no bridal and baby showers to celebrate with a bunch of hungry co-workers. I am fortunate in many ways, as my husband's work is not affected by the current crisis, and the only change for him (and our resulting income) is that he is camped out in my daughter's bedroom as a makeshift office. I am truly grateful for the few orders I am filling for Covid birthdays at home, and still get a joy from delivering cupcakes to an unsuspecting birthday boy or girl, but it doesn't fill my time as much as I wish it would.
My savior has been cooking of a different kind - satisfying that stress-relieving need to carb load by cooking and baking for us as a family. It means a few pounds have been gained here and there around the spare tire region, but it has kept me sane, and I have to believe that mental health is as important as the physical. And as for the physical, our family remains Covid-free, even if we did have a scare and needed to get tested. Moreover, the friend we know who did test positive, has been mercifully symptom-free, and is now testing negative. We are indeed fortunate.
As for this recipe, it is a doozy. I find myself clipping recipes that are a little out of the ordinary, and this one caught my interest because of how it is thickened - with a paste made from sautéed bread, spices and nuts, which is then stirred into the stew. The original recipe called for grilling some manchego cheese on some thick slices of bread as a side, but, since I had WAY too much time on my hands, I opted to stuff some bread dough with a mixture of seeds and Manchego and that is what you see dipping its toes in the stew in the picture below (and yes, that slice of carby goodness is almost as big as my head - don't judge). Either way, you have bread, you have cheese, you have garbanzo beans/chick peas. This is stomach satisfaction and carb-loading stress-relief at its peak, my friends. So load up, stay safe and stay sane.
Moorish Spinach and Chickpea Stew
Serves 4
overzealous recipe clipping - original source forgotten :-(
olive oil
4 oz stale bread, cut into cubes
2 1/2 oz raw unsalted almonds
2 tsp cumin seeds
1/8-1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
5 black peppercorns, crushed
1 large onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 lbs roma tomatoes, cored and chopped
2 15oz cans chickpeas (not drained!)
5 oz bag of baby spinach leaves, roughly chopped
Bread with Manchego cheese to serve
1. Heat a pan over medium heat with some olive oil. Add bread cubes and saute for about 3 minutes until lightly browned. Add the almonds and the spices and continue to saute for a further minute. Tip the contents of the pan into a food processor and whizz until finely chopped. Add water until the mixture forms a thick paste. Set aside.
2. Wipe out the pan and then heat some more olive oil. Add the onion and saute until softened and starting to brown. Add the garlic and tomatoes and bring the mixture to a boil. Turn the heat down and let it simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. Add the chickpeas with their liquid, and the paste from the food processor, and stir together, making sure all of the paste is broken down and mixed in, and not clumped together. Bring to a bubble, by which time the mixture should be thickened by the paste. Add the spinach and bubble for just a few minutes until it is wilted.
4. Serve with some bread and Manchego cheese, or the carb of your choice :-)
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