Spiced Chickpea and Spinach Skillet with Warm Flatbread
- Savory
- Quick
- Mediterranean
- Stovetop
- Oven
Chickpeas simmered with cumin and garlic until thick and saucy, then brightened with lemon and folded with spinach. Warm flatbread makes it a full, savory skillet meal.
- Total
- 18 min
- Prep 5 · Cook 13
- Serves
- 2
- Difficulty
- Easy
You'll practice: Blooming spices · Simmering
Instructions
-
Drain the chickpeas in a colander. Chop the tomatoes into 2 cm pieces, mince the garlic, and zest the lemon, then juice it.
~5 min
-
Warm 2 tbsp olive oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and 1 tsp cumin and stir for 30 to 45 seconds, until fragrant but not browned.
~2 min
Blooming the ground spices in hot oil dissolves their fat-soluble aromas so they taste fuller, but browning turns cumin harsh and bitter.
Bloom the cumin only until it smells nutty, about 45 seconds; ground cumin turns bitter fast once it browns.
Blooming spices Stir ground cumin in warm oil only until it smells nutty, 30 to 45 seconds. The cue is fragrance; the mistake is walking away and letting it scorch bitter.
-
Add the tomatoes and 0.5 tsp salt and cook, stirring, until they break down into a thick sauce, about 5 minutes.
~5 min
Salt draws water out of the tomatoes so they collapse faster into a thick sauce rather than staying watery and chunky.
Simmering Keep a gentle, lazy bubble rather than a hard boil, stirring now and then, until the sauce thickens and clings to the chickpeas instead of running off them.
-
Stir in the chickpeas and 0.25 tsp black pepper and simmer until the sauce clings to the chickpeas, about 3 minutes.
~3 min
Simmering lets the chickpeas absorb flavor and the sauce reduce so it coats them instead of pooling on the plate.
Simmering Keep a gentle, lazy bubble rather than a hard boil, stirring now and then, until the sauce thickens and clings to the chickpeas instead of running off them.
-
While step 4 cooks
While the chickpeas simmer, warm the flatbread in a dry pan over medium heat for 1 to 2 minutes per side, until soft and lightly toasted.
~4 min
A dry pan reheats the flatbread's trapped moisture and lightly toasts the surface, keeping it soft inside rather than leathery.
-
Fold the spinach into the skillet in handfuls and cook until just wilted, about 2 minutes. Stir in the lemon zest and 1 tbsp lemon juice, taste, and adjust salt. Serve with the warm flatbread.
~2 min
Spinach wilts in moments and overcooking dulls its color and flavor; adding lemon off the heat keeps its brightness sharp.
Add the lemon juice off the heat at the very end so its brightness stays sharp rather than cooking away.
