mediterranean chickpea stew
feat. fennel, white wine, and peppers; for a dinner party, or just for lunch
Welcome to mama eats, a twice-weekly newsletter inspired by a simple + seasonal home life. This week’s post, a recipe for a Mediterranean- inspired chickpea stew, is free to all readers, barring the video of me making it which is viewable by paid subscribers. I try to provide as much free content as possible, however, this newsletter is a labor of love and I am a busy mother of three. If you have the means and find value in what I share, please consider becoming a paid subscriber, which also gives you the benefit of access to the growing archive (posts over a month old).
Chickpeas are one of my favorite legumes- they are so tasty, versatile, and have a lovely toothsome yet tender texture that holds up well in soups and salads. I buy 25 lb bags of them in bulk (from Palouse), because they are a staple in my kitchen- especially in spring and summer, when we always have a cold chickpea + herb salad and a big container of hummus in the fridge for easy and nutritious meals. Chickpeas are one of the earliest cultivated legumes, being thought to have been cultivated in Turkey around 7000 BC, and are enjoyed as staple foods in many cultures. Whenever I soak chickpeas, I always laughingly think of the Italian fairytale in which a woman who wants children is given a 100 magical chickpeas which turn into chickpea children. Unfortunately it doesn’t end well, but I just adore the fantastical element of a bean in a fairy tale.
Today I am sharing the recipe for a chickpea stew that has a sort of Mediterranean fish soup flavor profile that we’ve been eating a lot lately for lunch, al fresco in the glorious spring sunshine and breeze. It has a flavorful base from slow cooking bell pepper, fennel, tomato, garlic, onion, and paprika in olive oil. I find it to be very satisfying and hearty from the chickpeas, especially with a nice hunk of bread to dip in the broth- and I think it is elegant enough to serve at a dinner party, too.
Here’s an imaginary menu for that dinner party: cook the stew in the morning. Steam some artichokes or make carciofi alla romana to serve at room temperature alongside. In the afternoon, bake a simple, unfrosted cake such as spanish almond cake or lemon olive oil cake, and decorate it with a light dusting of powdered sugar when cool. Before guests arrive, put out some nice marcona almonds to nibble on. You can make a large, crunchy green salad with vinaigrette and radishes with your guests after they arrive, or make ahead of time if you prefer. When it’s dinner time, warm the soup slowly and meanwhile toast plenty of good bread, rub the bread lightly with a garlic clove and drizzle it with olive oil. Pour some nice chilled glasses of the white wine you used to cook the stew and put out some buttery green Castelvetrano olives in a pretty bowl. If you can enjoy your meal outside, so much the better.
mediterranean-style chickpea stew
cooking notes: If you have the time, I really recommend soaking and cooking your own chickpeas from dried, which is not only much more flavorful and texturally pleasant, but also economical and less packaging. Simply soak them overnight on the counter, in plenty of water. Drain the next day and place in a pot with lots of fresh water to cover and 2 tsp of sea salt. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer softly, skimming off any foam that rises to the surface, until tender, anywhere from 45 minutes to 1.5 hours depending on how old your beans are. If you have very hard water, it can help to add a large pinch of baking soda into the cooking water. One more thing- it’s important to take your time with sautéing the vegetables before adding broth, it’s this time and lower heat that coaxes out the depth and richness which flavors the stew. Use a broth that tastes clear and rich on its own, not muddy or tinny- the better than bouillon no chicken is a good one.
1/4 cup / 60 ml olive oil
a bulb of fennel, halved, core removed, sliced crosswise, a few tender fronds reserved
half a medium onion, chopped fine
a medium red bell pepper, quartered then sliced
4 large cloves garlic, sliced
a big pinch fennel seeds, roughly crushed
½ tsp paprika, smoked or sweet- be sure it’s fresh
a large carrot, chopped large
4 canned plum tomatoes, chopped roughly
½ cup / 120 ml of dry white wine
a few bay leaves
a few small waxy fleshed potatoes, chopped
4 cups / 950 ml good flavored broth
2 ½ cups / 450 g cooked chickpeas
for serving: well- toasted, garlic rubbed, and olive-oiled sourdough bread, chile flakes or calabrian chile paste, a handful of finely chopped parsley
Put on a nice cozy playlist (I’ve been listening to my March playlist while I cook) wash your hands, roll up your sleeves. Heat the olive oil over medium high heat in a large pot- I use my Dutch oven. Add the onion and sliced fennel, and a big pinch of salt. Cook down gently, stirring every so often, lowering the heat if vegetables are browning, until vegetables are more translucent and softened, about 5 minutes.
Add the bell pepper and cook about 5 minutes longer, till it too has softened and colored the vegetables a bit orange. Stir in garlic and fennel seeds and let it cook a minute till fragrant. Add in carrot and tomatoes and cook down another few minutes. Add the wine and potatoes, increase the heat and let the wine mostly cook off. Toss in the bay leaves and pour in the broth.
Let it simmer 10 minutes or until potatoes are tender, then add the chickpeas and cook another five minutes. Taste for salt and adjust seasoning. Serve into shallow bowls and drizzle a thread of olive oil over, and scatter over some parsley, a bit of the reserved fennel fronds, and a healthy pinch or spoon of chile flakes or paste.
Leftovers taste just as good, if not more delicious, the next few days.
For paid subscribers, I’ve made a little video of me cooking this dish below. I make the videos as both a petit treat to watch, and also for visual cues for those who find that helpful. Enjoy and thank you for subscribing x