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Spanish Shrimp and Chickpea Stew
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At Palacio Carvajal Girón, in the Extremadura region of Spain, we tasted a delicious shellfish and chickpea stew that was rich and redolent with locally produced smoked paprika. Requiring both a ham- and langoustine-infused broth and made with dried chickpeas, the dish was a time- and labor-intensive preparation. Our much-simplified version captures the essence of the stew in just a fraction of the time. We use canned chickpeas for convenience, and the broth gets flavor from bottled clam juice and the viscous liquid from the chickpeas. A combination of Spanish smoked paprika and standard sweet paprika give the stew deep color and earthy complexity without overwhelming the shrimp.
4
Servings
Tip
Don’t forget to reserve ½ cup of the liquid before draining the can of chickpeas. The liquid adds both body and flavor to the broth. When peeling the shrimp, don’t remove the tails because they also lend flavor to the broth. But do remove the tails when halving the seared shrimp so that the pieces are easier to eat in the finished stew.
35 minutes
2 tablespoons smoked paprika
1 tablespoon sweet paprika
Kosher salt and ground black pepper
1 pound extra-large (21/25 per pound) shrimp, peeled and deveined, tails left on
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more to serve
2 tablespoons salted butter
1 medium leek, white and light green parts halved lengthwise, thinly sliced, rinsed and dried
4 medium garlic cloves, minced
15½ ounce can chickpeas, ½ cup liquid reserved, drained
8 ounce bottle clam juice
Chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, to serve
Ingredients
-
2
tablespoons smoked paprika
-
1
tablespoon sweet paprika
-
Kosher salt and ground black pepper
-
1
pound extra-large (21/25 per pound) shrimp, peeled and deveined, tails left on
-
2
tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more to serve
-
2
tablespoons salted butter
-
1
medium leek, white and light green parts halved lengthwise, thinly sliced, rinsed and dried
-
4
medium garlic cloves, minced
-
15½
ounce can chickpeas, ½ cup liquid reserved, drained
-
8
ounce bottle clam juice
-
Chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, to serve
Directions
-
01In a medium bowl, stir together both paprikas and ¾ teaspoon pepper; measure 2 tablespoons into a small bowl and set aside. Add the shrimp to the paprika mixture in the medium bowl and toss to coat; set aside.
-
02In a large Dutch oven over medium-high, heat the oil until shimmering. Add the shrimp in an even layer; reserve the bowl. Cook without stirring until browned on the bottom, about 2 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, return the shrimp to the bowl.
-
03In the same pot over medium, melt the butter. Add the leek and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, 4 to 5 minutes. Add the garlic and the reserved paprika mixture, then cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in the chickpeas, the reserved chickpea liquid and the clam juice. Bring to a simmer, then reduce to low, cover and cook for 10 minutes, stirring once or twice. Meanwhile, remove the tails from the shrimp and cut each in half crosswise.
-
04Remove the pot from the heat and stir in the shrimp along with accumulated juices. Cover and let stand until the shrimp are opaque throughout, 2 to 3 minutes. Taste and season with salt and pepper. Serve sprinkled with parsley and drizzled with additional oil.
Reviews
October 28, 2022
What’s not to like?!
This is delicious! The first time I made it, I accidentally used HOT paprika! If you like spicy food, it is great! We like spicy, but we like it to ed down a bit, so kow I use 1/3 spicy, 1/3 sweet, and 1/2 regular or smoked. This is a very easy dish to make. It is also good served with crusty french bread to sop of the yummy juices. When I make this dish, my son tells me I truly have outdone myself!
January 17, 2023
Almost followed the recipe ;)
I started as instructed and then found out someone used my leeks so I replaced that with a mix of green onions and celery. I also cooked the shrimp shells a bit, with a couple of bay leaves, adding a bit of white wine and reducing it before following the next steps (butter, garlic, chickpeas) and replace clam juice for fish bouillon. Overall, good stew.
October 30, 2022
Smokey and Delicious
This soup is very tasty. I felt it needed a bit more broth so I added more clam juice a bit of lemon. This is very easy and a quick savory meal.
January 5, 2023
Disappointing
I love smoked paprika but found this recipe to be lacking. Maybe some tomato paste, white wine, lemon juice would elevate. Also agree with the reviewers that suggested it would make more sense to remove the tails and simmer in the clam juice. I get that the sauté could enhance their flavor but a bit too messy for me.
December 27, 2022
Very tasty, paprika forward
Made this per the recipe, except took MS Tuesday recommendation for a faster prep. In the future I will add a green like spinach/kale to add some more texture/taste, but welcome comfort food
This was very tasty. Leaving the tails on and halving the shrimp after par-cooking them was annoying and messy. If the whole point is to add shrimp flavor it might just be easier to simmer the clam juice and shrimps shells together in a small pot to extract the flavor. I'd also cut the shrimp before cooking them so I don't have to slice greasy, slippery shrimp. Next time I might also drizzle on some lemon juice along with the finishing olive oil.
Made this the other night and served it with some rice beneath it. Husband was maybe three bits in and said, "This one is a keeper". So that was the review of this in our house! It was simple to make, and as we are in shelter in place, I made the adjustments of yellow onion for leek (didn't have on hand) and shelled tail off shrimp (as that is what I had in the freezer). The recipe is fast and warming as any comfort food should be. So I second the household review, "It is a keeper".
I thought this was good, but not amazing. Working with the shrimp was a little fiddly; it is definitely not a weeknight dish. The paprika taste was good, but felt it was missing something? Salt? Also, I served it over rice. It wasn’t quite enough of a meal to serve it as a stew (for 4). I don’t think the rice was quite right, though. Polenta? Noodles?
I made this but added extra veggies (kale, zucchini, broccoli) and served it over brown rice to make it more nutritionally balanced. I loved it, however, my husband thought the flavor of the smoked paprika and leeks were overhwhelming and too gritty. This goes to show that the flavors in this dish are definitely strong so it might be a love it or hate it dish.
It was a little overwhelming to cook (I probably just need more practice): I maybe left my shrimp in too long because my paprika was looking pretty burnt and sad. The day I made it, it was good..fine. I froze the left-overs and reheated them maybe a week later and it tasted SOOOOO much better. The gritty paprika texture I had went away and everything melded really well. I am definitely going to come back to this one :)
Completely disappointing. Sadly we threw it away after a few bites as it lacked any depth of flavor and body. It is literally like eating smoky paprika water. I even went so far as to boil full shrimp shells in white wine before hand and reduced the liquid to add to it. This one wont go in my recipe box
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