Spiced Cod With Spinach and Chickpea Stew

“Yet another way to eat your spinach” is the title of this Yotam Ottolenghi’s article in the New York Times. Then he expands on how a long stint in a lot of oil transforms spinach into something totally different. I’m all ears! The spiced cod with spinach and chickpea stew, and the spinach stew in particular, has its origin in the Tunisian’s condiment called pkaila or bkeila. The essence of the stew is the cooked-down spinach; Swiss chard is often used as well. Fresh spinach is cooked in oil until it loses all its water and slowly fries in the oil, resulting in a greasy paste with texture like crude oil. The paste imparts flavor to all kinds of soups and stews.

In this recipe, Yotam Ottolenghi has adapted the slow-cook technique that I want to know more about. Another spinach recipe will be helpful too. Instead of serving the spinach and chickpea stew with halibut, I substituted it with wild-caught Atlantic cod. There are three parts to the recipe: 1) marinate for the chickpea and fish, 2) cook the spinach stew and 3) make the lemon herb salsa for garnishing.

Marinade: Garlic, salt, cumin, coriander, yuzu zest and olive oil

You find a lot of the same ingredients in the marinade and the stew. Ground cumin, ground coriander, garlic, lemon zest and olive oil. There is an optional Persian lime powder which I substituted it with ground yuzu. The shopping list for the fresh ingredients consists of: fish filets, green chili pepper, cilantro, parsley, baby spinach, lemon, and spring onions. Not too bad as you break it down to a manageable list.

Then the construction of a version of pkaila begins. There is a shortcut, as Yotam Ottolenghi tells us. In France, where a good numbers of Tunisians have settled over the years, you can buy a jar of pkaila. A jar saves you hours of cooking and stirring. In the modified and mild version, it takes less than an hour to do.

First, sweat the onion over medium heat, until softened. Then add the garlic, chili pepper and spices (cumin, coriander, dry lime powder, cinnamon stick) in the pan. Meanwhile, one pound of spinach, along with cilantro and parsley, are processed into a finely chopped form. Instead of using a food processor, I blitzed the spinach and herbs in the Vitamix which took seconds to turn into a thick paste. Pour the paste to join the aromatics in the pan.

From then on, it’s a long and slow process of simmering and stirring — stirring and simmering — until the spinach turns a deep green color. See step 3 and 4 below for details.

The original recipe calls for halibut. I used frozen cod filet, which is much cheaper where I live. However, I can see the spinach stew doing well with meat. Although it’s much quicker to sear a fish fillet than cooking most meat. At this point, you’re probably had enough slow cooking. Furthermore, fish needs a little help in the flavor department. The spiced cod with spinach and chickpea stew delivers it in so many ways.

The long slow cooking of spinach distills the flavor to its very essence. Never know until now that spinach can taste so spectacular. A raw spinach salad is good, but a spinach stew like this is transforming, to say the least. I want to package it in a jar and pair it with fish or soup. You have a real winner!

Slowly cooking the stew distills the flavor of spinach to its essence.

Print Recipe

Spiced Halibut With Spinach and Chickpea Stew

Serves: 4

Cooking Time: 1 1/4 hour

Ingredients

• FOR THE HALIBUT:
• ⅓ cup/60 milliliters olive oil
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• ¼ teaspoon dried Persian lime powder (optional, see note)
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 2 teaspoons lemon zest
• ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
• 4 skinless, boneless halibut fillets, patted dry (about 1 pound/410 grams total)
• 1 can chickpeas (15.5 ounces/400 grams), drained and patted dry
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, for frying
• FOR THE SPINACH STEW:
• Olive oil
• ¾ cup (80 grams) finely chopped yellow onion
• 3 garlic cloves, crushed
• 2 mild green chile peppers, such as Anaheim, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• ½ teaspoon dried Persian lime powder (optional)
• ½ teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 fresh cinnamon stick, roughly crushed
• 1 ¼ packed cups/50 grams cilantro (coriander)
• ½ packed cup/25 grams flat-leaf parsley
• 1 pound/400 grams baby spinach
• 1 ¼ teaspoons flaky sea salt
• 2 cups/500 milliliters chicken or vegetable stock
• 1 ½ teaspoons granulated sugar or caster sugar
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice
• FOR THE SALSA:
• 1 lemon (peel the skin to get 3 strips and juice to get 2 tablespoons)
• 1 mild green chile pepper, such as Anaheim, halved lengthwise and finely sliced
• 2 spring onions, finely sliced on an angle
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 packed tablespoons/5 grams cilantro (coriander), roughly sliced
• Flaky sea salt and black pepper

Instructions

1

MARINATE THE FISH AND CHICKPEAS: In a small bowl, mix the first 7 ingredients together. Add 2 1/2 tablespoons of marinade to a bowl with the halibut and mix well. Add 2 tablespoons of the marinade to a separate bowl with the chickpeas and stir to combine. Set both aside at room temperature.

2

MAKE THE SPINACH STEW: Add 1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon/75 milliliters of the olive oil to a large pot over medium heat with the onion and gently fry for 8 minutes, or until soft. Add the garlic, chile pepper, spices and cinnamon stick and continue to cook for 5 minutes, stirring often.

3

Meanwhile, add the herbs and some of the spinach to a food processor and blitz until finely chopped. Repeat in batches until all the greens are finely chopped. Add the chopped spinach and herbs to the pot with the onions, along with 3 tablespoons of oil and the flaky salt. Cook for 15 minutes, stirring often, until the spinach turns a deep green color, almost gray.

4

Add the chicken stock, sugar, lemon juice and 1/3 cup/100 milliliters water to the pot. Bring to a rapid simmer and then lower the heat. Cook for 20 minutes until thickened slightly.

5

MAKE THE SALSA: Finely slice the lemon skin into very thin strips, then mix with the lemon juice and remaining salsa ingredients and set aside.

6

FRY THE CHICKPEA: When you’re ready to serve, heat a large nonstick frying pan on a high heat, then add 1/2 tablespoon of vegetable oil. Add the chickpeas and fry for 6 minutes, stirring every now and then until crisp and golden-brown. Transfer to a plate and wipe the pan clean.

7

COOK THE FISH: Return the pan to a medium-high heat with the remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons of vegetable oil. Add the halibut fillets, spaced apart, and fry for 3 minutes on one side, then flip and fry for another 2 minutes on the other side until both sides are crisp and golden brown.

8

TO SERVE: Add about two-thirds of the chickpeas to the stew and stir together, then transfer the stew to a large platter with a lip. Place the halibut fillets on top of the stew, then scatter over the remaining fried chickpeas. Finish with the salsa and serve at once, sprinkled with more flaky sea salt if you like.

Notes

You can buy ground Persian limes, or start with a whole dried one: Roughly crush it with the side of a knife and then grind to a fine powder in a spice grinder. https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1019485-spiced-halibut-with-spinach-and-chickpea-stew