Provencal Chickpea and Spinach Gratin
Today I want to teach you how to make Richard Olney's delicious Chickpea and Spinach gratin from his classic cookbook ' Simple French Food'. It is a classic Provencal vegetarian preparation that is easy to make and will impress your friends.
It's very different from most other gratins that use lots of milk and cheese in that it has no dairy whatsoever. The deep flavors come from pounding toasted almonds and saffron together with egg yolks. Join me today as we make a chickpea and spinach gratin together.
Chickpea and Spinach Gratin
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 33 minutes
Servings 6 - 8
Ingredients
2 quarts of boiling water
2 pounds of baby spinach
12 Marcona almonds
1/2 teaspoon Piment d’Ville or Espelette pepper
big pinch saffron threads
pinch cracked black pepper
2 large hard-boiled eggs, separated
2 cups cooked chickpeas (to learn how to cook dried chickpeas watch this)
1/2 cup tomato sauce
1/4 cup breadcrumbs
1/4 cup olive oil
Preheat the oven to 400°F.
Bring water to a rapid boil in a large stockpot and cook spinach for 3 minutes. You probably will not believe that all the spinach will fit into your pot and you even reread the recipe to make sure you read it correctly. When the spinach is cooked, drain and keep BOTH the spinach and the spinach water. Reduce the spinach water in a pot over medium heat until 1 cup of liquid remains.
In a mortar, pound the almonds until they are smooth and almost like peanut butter in consistency. Add the piment, saffron, and black pepper and continue pounded until they are well incorporated into the mixture. Add the egg yolks and mix until smooth and well incorporated. Separately, slice the egg whites and reserve. If you do not have a mortar then you can use a food processor.
In a large bowl, mix the spinach, spinach water, egg yolk mixture, egg whites, chickpeas, and tomato sauce. Taste and adjust seasoning to your preferences. Oil a 9X5 oval gratin dish with half the olive oil. Pour in chickpea mixture. Top with breadcrumbs and drizzle remaining olive oil over. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until bubbling and golden brown on top.
