Garbanzo Stew with Malanga and Calabaza

Name: Garbanzo Stew with Malanga and Calabaza
Prep time: P0Y0M0DT0H20M0.000S
Cook time: P0Y0M0DT1H20M0.000S
Total time: P0Y0M0DT11H40M0.000S
Yield: 6 to 8 servings
Cuisine: latin-american
Ingredients: 1 pound dried chickpeas; Pinch baking soda; 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil; 1 pound cooking ham, cubed; 1 large yellow onion, diced; 1 large green bell pepper, diced; 3 garlic cloves, peeled and diced; 1 teaspoon kosher salt; 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper; 1 cup whole peeled, canned tomatoes in their juice; 1/2 cup dry white wine; 1 teaspoon smoked Spanish paprika (labeled pimenton); 1 dried bay leaf; 1 pound malanga, peeled and quartered; 1/2 pound calabaza (West Indian pumpkin), peeled and cubed

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If you're looking for an alternative to frigid carrots and exhausted potatoes during the winter, tropical root vegetables like malanga make a great base for comforting soups and stews as you wait out the seemingly never-ending cold. This rough brown vegetable, a staple of Cuban cooking, is often mistaken for taro root. Ranging from creamy white or yellow to purple when cut open, malanga can be fried, boiled, or mashed into a puree. In this garbanzo stew, it absorbs the flavor of the pepper, onion, and tomato sofrito, becoming pillowy and creamy without breaking apart while the chickpeas simmer and the calabaza melts into the broth.

Level: Easy
Total: 11 hr 40 min

Prep: 20 min
Inactive: 10 hr
Cook: 1 hr 20 min

Yield: 6 to 8 servings

Level: Easy
Total: 11 hr 40 min

Prep: 20 min
Inactive: 10 hr
Cook: 1 hr 20 min

Yield: 6 to 8 servings

Ingredients

1 pound dried chickpeas

Pinch baking soda

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 pound cooking ham, cubed

1 large yellow onion, diced

1 large green bell pepper, diced

3 garlic cloves, peeled and diced

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

1 cup whole peeled, canned tomatoes in their juice

1/2 cup dry white wine

1 teaspoon smoked Spanish paprika (labeled pimenton)

1 dried bay leaf

1 pound malanga, peeled and quartered

1/2 pound calabaza (West Indian pumpkin), peeled and cubed

Directions

Soak chickpeas in water with a pinch of baking soda overnight, 10 to 12 hours. Drain and rinse well.
In a large heavy pot, combine chickpeas with 7 cups of water. Bring to a boil then lower heat to medium, cover, and simmer until just tender, 30 to 35 minutes. Drain and reserve 4 cups of the cooking water.
To make the sofrito, heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the cubed ham and saute until lightly browned, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the onions, peppers and garlic and saute until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes, wine, paprika and bay leaf to the sofrito, roughly crushing the tomatoes. Return to a simmer and cook an additional 5 minutes.
Return chickpeas to large pot with 4 cups of the reserved cooking water. Add the sofrito mixture to the chickpeas and bring to a simmer. Add the malanga and calabaza, and cook covered until the vegetables are tender, 35 to 45 minutes. Serve on its own with bread or over rice.