OLLA GITANA--A WAYFARER’S VEGETABLE STEW

 

Old-fashioned olla stewpot.

The olla is the great stewpot, source of everything delicious—comfort food from mother’s kitchen; lusty soups with legumes and sausage; delicate broths, and sumptuous stews. The olla is both sustenance and jubilation. Everyday and fiesta.

The potbellied stewpot, which can be set on a tripod over a cooking fire, is the cooking vessel for gypsy wayfarers and itinerant laborers, who might pluck a few vegetables from a field or fruits from an orchard on their passage down a country road. Their vegetable and legume stew came to be known as olla gitana or “gypsy pot.” 

Although vegetarian, this stew is remarkably contundente—robust—packed with nourishment and flavor. Perfect winter days.

Olla Gitana comes from the region of Murcia, famed for its horticulture. It includes chickpeas and often white beans as well as squash, flat green beans (bajoques) and pears. Yes, pears. The Andalusian version usually has the addition of a maja’o, or “mash” of fried bread, almonds and garlic.

Murcia produces superb sweet pimentón, paprika that is sun-dried, not smoked, which would typically be used in this recipe. But, add a little smoked pimentón, if that pleases you. Some might even like a pinch of hot pimentón picante, hot paprika. Be sure to add a sprig of mint to the hot stew at the end. 

A vegetarian stew, with both chickpeas and white beans, squash, potatoes and green beans, flavored with a sofrito of onions, tomatoes and pimentón. The surprise ingredient is pears!

A robust vegetable stew. Here, finished with fried garlic and almonds.

Gypsy Stewpot

Olla Gitana

You will need cooked chickpeas and white beans for this recipe. If using dry legumes, soak them overnight, drain and cook in fresh water until tender. Or, use canned or jarred peas and beans, drained and rinsed. Use wide, flat green beans (romano beans), if possible. If they are fresh, cut them in short lengths and blanch them before adding to the stewpot. I just happened to have a jar of beans in conserva in my pantry (they had been requisitioned for a sailing voyage and never used), so I incorporated them. 

Use any variety of firm pear for this stew. If pears are soft, add them at the very end of cooking time. Cut small ones in quarters, large ones in chunks.

I served the bowls of stew with a refrito of fried sliced garlic and almonds.

Jars of legumes, canned tomatoes go into the stew.

Serves 6-8.

4 tablespoons olive oil

1 cup chopped onion

2 cloves garlic, chopped

Pinch of saffron threads

1 tablespoon pimentón (paprika, not smoked)

1 cup crushed tomatoes

2 cups cooked and drained chickpeas

7 cups water

1 carrot, cut in pieces

1 pound squash or pumpkin, cut in chunks

¾ pound potatoes, cut in chunks

2-3 teaspoons salt

1 bay leaf

Pinch of dried mint

2 cups cooked and drained cannellini beans

2 cups canned or cooked green beans, drained

2-3 pears

Fresh mint, to serve

For the refrito (optional)

Olive oil

Sliced garlic

Almonds, chopped

Red pepper flakes or minced red chile (optional)

Sofrito with pimentón.

Heat the oil in a skillet and sauté the onion and garlic until softened, 3 minutes. Add the saffron and fry it briefly. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the pimentón. Add the tomatoes. Return the skillet to the heat and cook until the tomatoes lose their moisture. Remove from the heat.

Add the onion-tomato sofrito to a large stew pot. Add the chickpeas, water, carrot,  squash and potatoes. Season with salt, bay and dried mint. Bring the water to a boil, reduce the heat and cook, covered, 20 minutes. Add the cannellini beans and continue cooking, 5-10 minutes or until the potatoes and squash are tender. 

Peel the pears, remove cores and, if they are small, quarter them. If large, cut the pears in chunks. Add the pears to the stew pot with the green beans. Cook 5 minutes. Remove the pot from the heat and allow to settle 5 minutes.

Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a small skillet. Fry sliced garlic with chopped almonds and red pepper flakes, if desired. 

Serve the vegetable stew with sprigs of fresh mint and a spoonful of the garlic-almond oil.

Be sure to add a spring of fresh mint to the stew before serving.

KEEP IT SIMPLE!

Keeping it simple. This meal comes together in 30-40 minutes--lentils, pan-grilled salmon fillets and coleslaw.

Open a jar of lentils. Empty the contents into a bowl. Add your favorite vinaigrette dressing and some chopped fresh herbs. Serve alongside grilled salmon or roast chicken or lamb chops. Dinner, simplified.

My plan here is, not to complicate this menu, but to customize it a bit. Instead of a glug of bottled vinaigrette, I’m making my own by adding spices to the basic dressing. A special ingredient—Moroccan lemons preserved in brine—adds real pizazz to plain canned lentils.

The “dressed” lentils, served cold or room temperature, are not a salad, but a side dish. They can take the place of a vegetable or of a boring carb such as potatoes. For that matter, with the addition of cubes of queso fresco or feta and quail eggs, the lentils easily become a vegetarian main.

It doesn’t take much to turn basic foods from simple to, if not sublime, at least very tasty.  I found lots of inspiration for this kind of cooking in Radically Simple—Brilliant Flavors with Breathtaking Ease by Chef Rozanne Gold (Rodale; 2010). She’s got at least eight recipes using canned legumes, all of them embellished in unexpected ways. For example, grated fresh ginger “makes the flavor of fresh lemon reverberate” in an otherwise ordinary Italian white bean salad. A couscous salad gets finished with chickpeas, chopped dates, slivered almonds and cardamom. Just wow!

(Some other recipes I liked from Radically Simple, these not with legumes: creamy avocado soup spiked with fino Sherry; halibut roasted with saffron vinaigrette; beef burgers with sun-dried tomatoes; lamb chops with smoked pimentón oil and shards of Manchego cheese; cauliflower with crumbly ras el hanout topping.)

Keeping it simple.

Lentils with a spicy vinaigrette and diced preserved lemon makes an easy side dish with all kinds of foods.

Chilled or room temperature lentils accompany pan-grilled salmon. Slaw is a quick salad-relish.

Mint complements the lentils and salmon.

Or, serve the lentils on the side.

Tangy slaw can serve as a sauce or relish with the grilled salmon. This is made with shredded Chinese cabbage, red bell pepper and diced carrots. No mayonnaise--the dressing includes olive oil, Sherry vinegar, a dribble of honey and a pinch of toasted cumin seeds.

Lentils with Spicy Dressing

Lentejas Aliñadas

Use the rind of preserved lemon.

These are tiny brown pardina lentils. French Puy lentils could be used instead--whatever you have available in cans or jars.

Chopped preserved lemon adds pop to this simple side dish. If not available, substitute capers for a similar tangy, briny flavor.

You could simplify the recipe further by using a ready-mixed spice blend such as ras el hanout, Madras curry powder or za’atar instead of the clove-pepper-cumin-pimentón mix.

Fresh mint leaves.

Chopped mint complements the lentils nicely and points up the Moroccan-ish flavors. But chopped dill, cilantro, basil or parsley would be equally good.

Open a jar of lentils.

2 cups canned lentils
¼ cup finely chopped onion
¼ cup diced preserved lemon
1 tablespoon ketchup
1-2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon salt
Pinch of cloves
1 teaspoon coarsely cracked black pepper
¼ teaspoon cumin
1/8 teaspoon hot pimentón (paprika) or pinch cayenne
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
Fresh mint leaves, chopped
Hard-cooked quail eggs, to garnish (optional)

Empty the lentils into a colander. Rinse them in cold water and let them drain.

Place the chopped onion in a small bowl. Cover with cold water. Let the onions soak 10 minutes. Drain them well.

Combine the lentils and onion in a bowl. Add the diced lemon.

Spicy vinaigrette.

In a small bowl combine the ketchup, garlic, salt, cloves, pepper, cumin and pimentón. Whisk in the lemon juice and olive oil. Pour dressing over the lentils and very gently stir. Allow the lentils to marinate in the dressing at least 30 minutes or, covered and refrigerated, up to 24 hours.

Immediately before serving stir in the chopped mint. Garnish, if desired, with quail eggs that have been peeled and halved. Serve the lentils room temperature or chilled.

To cook the salmon: Season the fillets with salt and pepper and drizzle them with olive oil. Allow to come to room temperature. Heat a plancha (grill pan) or cast iron skillet until quite hot. Place the fillets in the pan, skin side down. Lower heat to medium-hot. Allow the salmon to cook without moving it until the skin is crisped and flesh is cooked almost to the center. Carefully turn the fillets and finish cooking just until the reverse side is lightly browned.

More recipes in which canned lentils could be used:
Don Quixote´s Friday Lentils (vegetarian).
Lentils with Sausage.

THE FLIP SIDE OF SOUP IS—SALAD!

A soup transmogrified to a summer salad! White beans, pasta, fennel and smoked ham make a salad bowl fit for a party on the terrace.

I´ve just replenished the pantry with jars of legumes, having used the last of them last week with a tasty garbanzo salad. While I’m on to a good thing, why not keep it going? 

The “good thing” being salads or cold dishes based around legumes and lots of vegetables. This week I took inspiration from soup! Spain has so many terrific soups and soupy-stews, one-pot meals packed with flavor, nutrients and, yep, calories. Not the sort of food you want to cook—or eat—on a hot summer’s day.

But swap out ready-to-eat canned beans for the slow-cooked dried ones. Substitute raw vegetables for some of the stewed ones. And, in about 30 minutes, you’ve got a hot-weather meal or a side dish fit for a party.

The soup I picked to flip to summer guise is a potaje from Almería and the highland Alpujarra region of Granada. It’s usually cooked with wheat berries, beans or chickpeas, and wild fennel shoots as well as pork belly, ham and sausage. The fennel adds a subtle sweet anisette flavor that translates nicely to a salad when made with raw cultivated fennel.

Smoked ham or turkey from the deli takes the place of the fatty porky bits. For a vegetarian version, just skip the ham. (Smoked tofu would be a nice addition here.)

No fennel? Use chopped celery for a similar crunch and add a herb such as fresh oregano or mint to take up the flavor slack. You could use diced carrots in place of the butternut squash; green pepper instead of green beans.

Instead of chewy wheat berries, which take forever to cook, I’ve used a toasty, round semolina pasta called fregola. Other quick substitutes for the wheat berries are brown or white rice, Israeli cous cous, orzo pasta or bulgur.

Any type of canned white beans can be used or black-eyed peas or chickpeas.

The vegetables improve with a few hours to macerate in the dressing.

This big salad is packed with vegetables, raw and cooked. Serve it alongside grilled foods at your next party.

Sprigs of green fennel and a dusting of smoked pimentón are the final touch to the salad.

Salad with Fennel and Beans

Ensalada con Hinojo y Alubias

Salad ingredients, clockwise from the top:  diced butternut squash, diced potatoes, fregola pasta, chopped fennel bulb, sliced green beans, halved cherry tomatoes, diced smoked ham, canned white beans and chopped onions.

Serves 8-10 as part of a meal.

Chopped fennel.

2 cups drained cooked or canned white beans
1 cup uncooked fregola or other pasta or grain
1 ½ cups (8 ounces) diced potato
1 cup diced butternut squash
1 cup sliced green beans
1 cup diced smoked ham (6 ounces)
1 cup chopped raw fennel
½ cup finely chopped onion
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
2 cloves garlic, minced
½ teaspoon smoked pimentón (paprika) 
1/8 teaspoon cumin
1 ½ teaspoons salt
3 tablespoons Sherry vinegar
6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Pinch hot pimentón or dash of Tabasco
Sprigs of fennel to garnish

Place the beans in a large salad bowl.

Cook the fregola in boiling salted water until al dente, 10-12 minutes. (One cup raw pasta makes 2 cups cooked.)

Cook the diced potato in boiling salted water until just tender. Drain and rinse in cold water. Cook the squash in boiling salted water until firm-tender, 5-6 minutes. Cook the beans until crisp-tender. Drain and cool the vegetables and add them to the bowl with the white beans. Add the diced ham, fennel, onion and tomatoes.

Mix gently so beans don't break up.

In a small bowl, combine the garlic, pimentón, cumin and salt. Stir in the vinegar. Whisk in the olive oil until dressing is emulsified. Season to taste with hot pimentón or a dash of Tabasco. Pour the dressing over the vegetables in the bowl. Use a large wooden spoon to very gently combine. Taste the vegetables and add more salt, oil or vinegar if needed.


Allow the salad to macerate at least 30 minutes or, covered and refrigerated, up to 12 hours. Stir it again gently before serving. Sprinkle the top with additional pimentón. Garnish with green fennel sprigs.

The first day of summer marked the end of the "state of emergency." All of Spain has now transitioned from pandemic lockdown to what is designated "the new normal." The first tourists have arrived in Mallorca! Shops, bars and restaurants are reopening. We wear masks while on the street, in the market, in offices and other places of work. We can even have a party in our homes and get together with friends! I'm not actually having a party--but this salad would certainly serve a crowd! 

More recipes with fennel:
Fennel Soup with Chickpeas, Wheat and Sausage.
Lenten Fennel Soup with Beans.
Bean Pot with Fennel and Pork Belly.
Orange, Avocado and Fennel Salad.
Pear and Fennel Salad with Walnuts.