Malaga vigil stew. Chickpea stew with cod and spinach.

This chickpea vigil stew with cod or vigil stew is very Malaga and carries many of my memories from this time.

My grandmother prepared it on Friday vigils and I loved it because it meant that Holy Week was already close and that soon we would be on the street watching processions.

In Malaga, contrary to what many people may think, stews are very traditional. There are some with Brussels sprouts and others with chorizo ​​and chard, but for Easter the one that is most prepared is this chickpea stew with cod and spinach.

There are those who make it by frying the cod in oil instead of cooking it with the chickpeas, but I like to add it raw because it is lighter and also the fish tastes better this way and gives more flavor to the chickpea broth.

Ingredients

For the chickpeas

• 500 g of chickpeas
• water to cover the chickpeas
• 1 bay leaf

For the stew

• 350 g desalted cod
• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 onion
• 500 g grated tomato
• 1 teaspoon sweet paprika from la Vera
• 300ml fish broth
• 1 handful of fresh spinach
• salt
• 4 boiled eggs

For the sauce

• 2 cloves of garlic
• a handful of almonds
• 4 slices of bread for frying

Directions

The day before: soak the cod to desail it. We have to change the water every 10 hours. I used cod crumbs (small pieces), so they desaed fast, but if you use large loins, they should probably be desarising longer. Also soak the chickpeas on the eve.

Drain the cod and chickpeas well. Book separately.

In a pressure cooker, put the rinsed chickpeas with a bay leaf and a pinch of salt. Cook according to the pressure cooker time for chickpeas.

Meanwhile, chop the onion and garlic, grate the tomato and cut the cod into cubes.

Heat the oil in a saucepan. When the oil is very hot, sauté the onion and garlic (let them fry in the oil over low heat) until golden and soft.

Add the grated tomato, salt and let it cook over medium-low heat until the tomato has evaporated all the water. Add the paprika and stir a few times.

When the chickpeas are tender, we will add them to the casserole with part of the cooking water and the fish broth. Let it cook over medium heat for about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, in the pressure cooker we put two tablespoons of oil with the chopped garlic cloves, the almonds and the bread slices and let them fry until they are toasted and the bread is crispy. We mash well in a mortar.

We add the mashed potatoes to the saucepan with the chickpeas. and dlet it cook over low heat for about 5 minutes. TOThen we add the spinach and the cod pieces and let it boil for the last time.

We finish by decorating the casserole with the boiled eggs cut in half and that's it.

Tips and Tricks

• You can also prepare it with boat chickpeas. It won't be the same, but it'll be super rich too.
• You can use crushed tomatoes instead of grated tomatoes.
• You can replace the cod with potatoes and Swiss chard and thus have a vegan version
• If you want to freeze the chickpea pot you can do it, but in that case I recommend doing it without the spinach that can be added the moment we go to take it. So they'll retain that crunchy touch they add when they're only skiped for a minute
• Preparation time: 45 minutes
• Difficulty: easy
• Servings: 6