KITCHEN GARDEN STEW RECIPE
Let’s prepare a comforting spoon dish, a traditional kitchen garden stew. This is a very traditional stew for Holy Week, which is just around the corner, and we will cook it using only vegetables—a truly wholesome and healthy dish. We’ll start by looking at the characteristics of chickpeas. This legume is sown in February and March and harvested in June and July, once the plant has fully dried. The warm, dry climate of La Finca Hualdo is ideal for this crop, which also tolerates frost well. Slightly clayey soils, provided they are well-aerated and well-drained, are particularly suitable. Fertilisation is essential, as chickpeas are especially demanding in potassium and phosphorus.
At De Hualdo, we grow Pedrosillano chickpeas, a small, round variety cultivated under dry-farming conditions. They are pure butter in texture. Their smaller size allows for shorter cooking times compared to other chickpea varieties.
Ingredients (serves 6)
- 350 g De Hualdo chickpeas
- 3 cloves of Las Pedroñeras purple garlic
- 4 medium potatoes
- 3 carrots
- 1 turnip
- 1 onion
- 1 large grated tomato
- 2 bunches of green and red spinach
- 2 teaspoons of sweet smoked paprika from La Vera
- A good-quality vegetable stock
- Salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- A generous drizzle of Cornicabra extra virgin olive oil from Casas de Hualdo
- 4 free-range eggs
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Preparation
The night before, soak the chickpeas in plenty of cold water.
The next day, discard the soaking water and rinse them thoroughly.
Remove the tough stems from the spinach, wash and roughly chop the leaves. Chop the onion and grate the tomato. Peel the potatoes, carrots, and turnip, then cut them into pieces.
Pour a generous drizzle of extra virgin olive oil into a large pot and sauté the onion and chopped garlic. Add the paprika, stirring quickly so it doesn’t burn and turn bitter, then add the grated tomato. Stir well. Next, add the well‑drained chickpeas and cover with a good vegetable stock. Season with salt and pepper. Let it simmer over medium heat for about 1½ hours.
Then add the potatoes, carrots, turnip, and spinach. Continue cooking gently until all the vegetables are tender and the chickpeas are soft and creamy.
Boil the eggs and cut them in half.
Notes
It’s a stew that can be prepared the day before, and it actually improves with time.
Instead of boiled eggs, you can also serve the egg poached: remember—gently crack it into hot water seasoned with salt and a splash of vinegar, and cook until the white is set and the yolk still runny. This takes 3–4 minutes. When the yolk breaks, it blends beautifully with the richness of the chickpeas, enhancing the dish’s flavour.
