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Cigrons a la Catalana
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Cigrons a la Catalana are Catalonia's chickpeas cooked in a dark sofregit, loosened with their own broth, then thickened with almond-garlic picada while pine nuts and raisins give the sweet Catalan note.
Soups & Stews
Spanish
Comfort Food
One Pot
Make Ahead
25 min
Active Time
2 hr 45 min cook•3 hr 10 min total
Yield4 to 6 servings
Cigrons a la Catalana are Catalonia's chickpeas, a stew of soft cigrons carried by sofregit, the slow onion and tomato base, and finished with picada, the almond and garlic paste that thickens the pot. It is not a Castilian cocido without its meats, and not the Andalusian chickpea-and-spinach pan with pimenton. Catalonia gives this one its own shape: sweet raisins, toasted pine nuts, olive oil, and a sauce that clings to the spoon.
The step that decides it is the sofregit. Cook the onion low until dark gold and jammy, then cook the tomato until its water is gone and the oil comes back to the edges. Rush that and the chickpeas taste boiled, no matter how carefully you finish them. Let it go slowly and the stew turns sweet and deep without a bone of meat in it.
If you are far from Catalonia, no hace falta haber pisado Espana. Use good dried chickpeas if you can, small and not old from a shop with turnover; if not, canned chickpeas are fine, but simmer them in the sauce long enough to stop tasting separate from it. Use canned whole tomatoes outside summer, because a hard winter tomato has nothing generous to give.
The picada goes in at the end, pounded in a mortar and loosened with broth, not boiled to death. My Margin for this one says: the stew thickens after it rests, so stop while it still looks a little loose. Siempre sale, si lo sigues.
Cigrons a la catalana belongs to Catalonia's cuina de cullera, spoon cooking, where dried legumes, olive oil, nuts, and patience made a full meal without needing meat. The Catalan signature is the order of the pot: sofregit first, picada last, a method that gives body to stews without cream. The raisins and pine nuts echo espinacs a la catalana, the sweet-savoury pairing common around Barcelona and the wider Catalan table, especially in dishes for vigilia, the meatless fast-day table, and Lent.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
dried chickpeas, or canned chickpeas
Quantity
350g dried or 3 x 400g cans
soaked overnight if dried; drained and rinsed if canned
water
Quantity
2 litres
for cooking dried chickpeas
small onion
Quantity
1
halved, for cooking the chickpeas
bay leaf
Quantity
1
fine salt
Quantity
1 teaspoon, plus more to taste
raisins
Quantity
40g
pine nuts
Quantity
30g
extra virgin olive oil
Quantity
60ml
yellow onions
Quantity
250g
finely chopped
garlic
Quantity
2 cloves
finely chopped
ripe tomatoes, or canned whole peeled tomatoes
Quantity
400g ripe or 300g canned
grated if fresh; crushed if canned
reserved chickpea cooking liquid or light vegetable broth
Quantity
500ml
use as needed
blanched almonds
Quantity
35g
toasted
garlic
Quantity
1 clove
for the picada
flat-leaf parsley leaves
Quantity
10g, plus a little more to finish
saffron threads (optional)
Quantity
1 small pinch
hard-boiled eggs (optional)
Quantity
2
quartered
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| dried chickpeas, or canned chickpeassoaked overnight if dried; drained and rinsed if canned | 350g dried or 3 x 400g cans |
| waterfor cooking dried chickpeas | 2 litres |
| small onionhalved, for cooking the chickpeas | 1 |
| bay leaf | 1 |
| fine salt | 1 teaspoon, plus more to taste |
| raisins | 40g |
| pine nuts | 30g |
| extra virgin olive oil | 60ml |
| yellow onionsfinely chopped | 250g |
| garlicfinely chopped | 2 cloves |
| ripe tomatoes, or canned whole peeled tomatoesgrated if fresh; crushed if canned | 400g ripe or 300g canned |
| reserved chickpea cooking liquid or light vegetable brothuse as needed | 500ml |
| blanched almondstoasted | 35g |
| garlicfor the picada | 1 clove |
| flat-leaf parsley leaves | 10g, plus a little more to finish |
| saffron threads (optional) | 1 small pinch |
| hard-boiled eggs (optional)quartered | 2 |
Equipment Needed
- •Large bowl for soaking chickpeas
- •Wide heavy pot or 26cm cazuela
- •Mortar and pestle
- •Box grater for tomatoes
- •Small dry pan for pine nuts
Instructions
- 1
Soak the chickpeas
Put the dried chickpeas in a large bowl, cover with plenty of cold water, and soak for 12 hours. Drain them. Bring 2 litres fresh water to a boil with the halved onion and bay leaf, then add the chickpeas. Chickpeas go into hot water, not cold; that old rule helps them cook creamy instead of turning stubborn. Lower to a steady simmer and cook until tender all the way through, 75 minutes to 2 hours depending on age. Salt in the last 15 minutes, then reserve 500ml of the cooking liquid and drain.
If using canned chickpeas, skip the boiling. Use 3 x 400g cans, drained and rinsed, and use light vegetable broth or water in place of the cooking liquid. Simmer them in the sauce long enough that they taste like the pot, not the can. - 2
Toast and soak
Put the raisins in a small bowl and cover them with 80ml warm chickpea cooking liquid for 10 minutes. Toast the pine nuts in a dry pan over low heat until pale gold, 2 to 3 minutes, shaking the pan often. Tip them out at once. Pine nuts go from golden to bitter while you are looking for a spoon.
- 3
Cook the sofregit
Warm the olive oil in a wide cazuela or heavy pot. Add the chopped onions and a pinch of salt, then cook low and slow until dark gold, soft, and jammy, 25 to 30 minutes. Add the chopped garlic and cook 1 minute. Stir in the grated tomatoes and cook until the water is gone, the colour deepens, and the oil comes back to the edges, 20 to 25 minutes more. This is the step that decides the dish. Rush the sofregit, the slow onion and tomato base, and the chickpeas taste boiled no matter what you do later.
Outside tomato season, use good canned whole peeled tomatoes and crush them by hand. A hard winter tomato brings water and sharpness, not generosity. - 4
Stew the chickpeas
Add the cooked chickpeas to the sofregit with 350ml reserved cooking liquid and the raisins with their soaking liquid. Bring to a gentle bubble and cook uncovered for 20 to 25 minutes, shaking the pot now and then so the sauce moves around the chickpeas without smashing them. Add a splash more cooking liquid if the pot tightens too early; you want a stew, not a paste.
- 5
Pound the picada
In a mortar, pound the toasted almonds, the whole garlic clove, parsley, saffron if using, and a pinch of salt to a rough paste. Loosen it with 3 or 4 tablespoons of hot chickpea liquid, then stir it into the pot. Simmer very gently for 5 to 8 minutes. The picada, the almond and garlic thickener, gives the sauce its body at the end; boil it hard and the sauce loses its calm.
- 6
Rest and serve
Fold in most of the toasted pine nuts, taste for salt, and take the pot off the heat. Let it rest 10 minutes, because the sauce thickens as it stands. Serve in shallow bowls with the remaining pine nuts, a little parsley, and quartered hard-boiled egg if you like. The sauce should cling to the spoon and leave a path through the chickpeas. Siempre sale, si lo sigues.
Chef Tips
- •Buy dried chickpeas from a shop with good turnover. Old chickpeas stay chalky no matter how long you cook them, and no picada can fix that. Pésalo, no lo adivines: 350g dried chickpeas gives you enough for 4 to 6 bowls.
- •Canned chickpeas are a fair shortcut. Skipping the sofregit is not. If you use cans, give the chickpeas a full 20 minutes in the sauce so they take on the onion, tomato, raisins, and almond.
- •Toast pine nuts gently and watch them. If they are too dear where you live, use a few more almonds in the picada and know what changes: you keep the body, but lose that sweet, resinous Catalan bite.
- •Do not add chorizo here. This pot is carried by sofregit, picada, raisins, and pine nuts. Put sausage in another dish and call it by its own name.
- •This is better the next day. Reheat it gently with a splash of water or chickpea cooking liquid, not a new stock cube, or you'll cover the flavour you already built. A young garnatxa from Terra Alta suits it well, and bread is not optional at my table.
Advance Preparation
- •Soak the dried chickpeas 12 hours ahead in plenty of cold water. They should swell evenly before they ever see the pot.
- •The chickpeas can be cooked up to 2 days ahead and kept covered in their cooking liquid in the refrigerator.
- •The finished stew keeps 3 days in the refrigerator and is often better on the second day. Loosen gently with water or reserved chickpea liquid as it reheats.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 370g)
Calories
530 calories
Total Fat
25 g
Saturated Fat
3 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
22 g
Cholesterol
75 mg
Sodium
600 mg
Total Carbohydrates
60 g
Dietary Fiber
16 g
Sugars
17 g
Protein
20 g
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