Spinach And Chickpeas With Bacon Recipes

SPINACH AND CHICK PEAS WITH BACON

Steps:

• Bring a 3-quart pot three fourths full of water to a boil. Add bacon and cook 2 minutes. Drain bacon and rinse in cold water. Pat dry and cut crosswise into 1/4-inch pieces.
• Cook bacon in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderate heat, stirring, until browned. Leaving bacon in skillet, spoon off all but 1 tablespoon fat. Add 2 tablespoons oil, chickpeas, and red pepper flakes to skillet and saut) over high heat, stirring occasionally, until chickpeas begin to brown, 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in spinach and garlic and sauté, stirring, until spinach is wilted. Season with salt and pepper and drizzle with remaining tablespoon oil.

HOT CHICKPEAS WITH SPINACH & BACON

Steps:

• Cut the bacon rasher into shreds and cook in a hot non-stick pan with the garlic clove. Stir in the wine vinegar and chickpeas. Toss in the baby leaf spinach, stirring until wilted. Season if you want to, then serve hot.

SAUTEED SPINACH WITH BACON

Steps:

• In a large skillet over medium heat, cook bacon until crispy, 5 to 8 minutes. With a slotted spoon, remove bacon, leaving fat in skillet; drain on a paper towel. Set aside.
• Increase heat to high; fill skillet with as much spinach as will fit. Season with salt and pepper. Cook, tossing spinach and adding more as it wilts (it may take up to 2 minutes to fit it all). Continue to cook until tender, 1 to 3 minutes.
• Tilt skillet to drain water from spinach (using slotted spoon or a spatula to hold spinach back). Mix in vinegar; season with salt and pepper. Serve sprinkled with crispy bacon.

CHICKPEAS WITH BABY SPINACH

Steps:

• Heat the olive oil in a large, heavy saucepan over medium heat and add the onion. Cook, stirring, until tender, about five minutes. Add the garlic, cumin, tomato paste and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Cook, stirring for one to two minutes, until fragrant and the tomato paste has turned a darker color. Add the chickpeas, the stock or water, and the cayenne, and bring to a simmer. Cover, reduce the heat, and simmer 10 minutes.
• Stir in the spinach, a handful at a time, stirring until each addition of spinach wilts. Add salt to taste and simmer uncovered, stirring often, for five minutes. Add lots of freshly ground pepper, taste and adjust salt and cayenne, and serve.

CHICKPEAS WITH SPINACH

Steps:

• Pick over the chickpeas, discarding any misshapen peas or grit, rinse well, and soak overnight in water to cover. The next day, drain the chickpeas and put them in a saucepan with water to cover by 2 inches. Tie together 4 of the garlic cloves, the onion, and the bay leaf in a piece of cheesecloth and add the sachet to the pan. Add the optional ham hock only if you will not be adding salt cod later, and then bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to low and simmer uncovered, adding 2 teaspoons salt (less if using the ham hock) after the first 10 minutes of cooking, until the chickpeas are tender, about 1 hour. Remove the pan from the heat, and remove the sachet from the pan. Leave the chickpeas in their cooking liquid. Discard the ham bone. Untie the sachet, discard the bay leaf, and reserve the garlic and onion.
• Place the spinach in a saucepan with only the rinsing water clinging to its leaves and cook over medium heat, stirring and turning constantly with tongs, until wilted, 5 to 6 minutes. Drain well in a sieve, pressing with the back of a spoon. If the leaves seem stringy or too big, you can chop them a bit more. Set aside.
• Heat the oil in a small sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add the bread and the remaining 3 uncooked garlic cloves and fry, turning as needed, until golden, 4 to 5 minutes. Transfer to a blender or small processor, add the saffron, and pulse until pulverized. Add the onion and garlic reserved from the chickpeas, the cumin, paprika, and 1 cup of the chickpea cooking liquid and purée until smooth.
• Add the purée and the spinach to the cooked chickpeas along with the salt cod or the ham, whichever you are using. Place the mixture over low heat, stir well, and bring to a simmer. If it seems dry, add a little water as needed so the stew is spoonable. Season to taste with salt and lots of pepper. Taste and balance the seasoning with vinegar.
• Transfer to a serving dish. If serving with the optional eggs, top with the fried eggs and serve hot, or with the hard-boiled eggs and serve warm.

SPINACH AND CHICKPEAS WITH BACON

Steps:

• Cut bacon crosswise into 1/4-inch pieces and cook in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderate heat until browned; leave bacon in skillet and spoon off all but 1 tablespoon fat.
• Add 2 tablespoons olive oil, chickpeas, and red pepper flakes; saute over high heat, stirring occasionally, until chickpeas begin to brown (3-4 minutes).
• Stir in spinach and garlic and saute', stirring, until spinach is wilted.
• Season with salt and pepper and drizzle with remaining tablespoon oil.

PASTA WITH SPINACH, CHICKPEAS, AND BACON

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Cook the pasta according to instructions on the box, minus a minute or two.
• When done save 1/2 cup of pasta water and drain the rest- keep in a colander.
• Pour the olive oil into a skillet over medium heat. . Add the bacon pieces and cook for 3 minutes or until they begin to render their fat. Toss in the garlic and cook for 2 minutes.
• Sprinkle in the red pepper flakes.
• Dump in chickpeas and stir to coat. Then add the spinach leaves, and cook until wilted. Season with a pinch of salt and add a half a cup or so of the pasta cooking water.
• When the spinach is wilted, add pasta to the pan with spinach and chick peas. Cook, stirring constantly, for a minute or two.
• Remove from the heat, sprinkle with cheese, and serve.
• I actually removed the bacon before eating, wanted to add the flavor but avoid some of the calories.

PASTA WITH SPINACH AND CHICKPEAS

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of water with 2 teaspoons sea salt to a boil. Cook linguine at a boil until tender yet firm to the bite, about 11 minutes; drain, reserving 1/2 cup of the water.
• Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Cook and stir garlic in hot oil until fragrant, about 1 minute. Increase heat to medium-high and add spinach, tomatoes, and garbanzo beans; cook and stir until spinach begins to wilt, 1 to 2 minutes more.
• Season spinach mixture with remaining teaspoon sea salt, marjoram, black pepper, and red pepper flakes. Reduce heat to low. Stir drained linguine with the spinach mixture to evenly coat. Add extra olive oil or reserved pasta water to achieve your preferred level of moisture in the dish. Top with Pecorino-Romano cheese.