Spanish-style Swiss chard with chickpeas

Name: Spanish-style Swiss chard with chickpeas
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 30 min
Yield: 6

Starter Serves 6 30 min

Swiss chard is a favourite in Spanish kitchens and in this recipe Riverford Cook Anna pairs it with classic Hispanic ingredients – smoked paprika, chickpeas and garlic. It's lovely warm out of the pan, but even better if left to infuse for an hour and eaten at room temperature.

Cook's notes

Variation Make a more substantial meal by adding thickly sliced Spanish cooking chorizo near the beginning, along with the onions, or tinned sardines near the end, along with the chard leaves.

Ingredients

2 large heads or bunches of Swiss chard (500g–600g)
2–3 tbsp olive oil, plus a little extra for garnishing
1 onion, thinly sliced
3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 x 400g can chickpeas, drained
1½ tsp smoked paprika
¼ tsp cayenne pepper
2 tsp sherry vinegar, or to taste
salt and black pepper

Method

Prep time: 5 min

Cooking time: 25 min

Step 1
Detach the chard leaves from the stems. Cut the stems into 2cm lengths and the leaves into 5cm-wide ribbons. Blanch and squeeze the chard stems and leaves.
Step 2
Heat the olive oil in a wide frying pan and cook the onion with a pinch of salt on a medium heat for about 10 minutes, until soft. Add the garlic and cook a further 2 minutes. Add the chickpeas, chard stems, paprika and cayenne and cook for 3–4 minutes, stirring often. Finally, stir in the chard leaves and cook for a further 3–4 minutes.
Step 3
To finish, season with salt and pepper, a drizzle of olive oil and a couple of splashes of sherry vinegar to brighten the flavour.