Chickpea and Leek Gratin with Goat Cheese and Thyme Crumbs
Chickpeas baked with sliced leeks, burst cherry tomatoes, and spinach under torn bread crumbs fried in olive oil with garlic and thyme, with goat cheese melting through.
Why You'll Love This Recipe
The comfort of something bubbling and browned, on an evening when I do not have an hour to give it. A true gratin is a slow project, and this one borrows the good parts, the crisp top and the soft savory underneath, by starting everything in a hot skillet and finishing it under the broiler for five minutes. Two cans of chickpeas, a couple of leeks, and the heel of a loaf are most of the shopping. It is the sort of dinner I learned to cook in a small kitchen in the south of France, where a gratin dish sat permanently on top of the stove.
The method matters in two places. The crumbs are fried separately in olive oil with chopped garlic and thyme until they are properly crisp, then scattered over at the very end, so they never sit in the sauce and go soft. And the leeks are given real time on low heat, six or seven minutes, until they slump and turn sweet rather than staying squeaky. Everything after that is quick: tomatoes burst, chickpeas warm through and take on the tomato, spinach wilts in three handfuls, and the goat cheese goes on in spoonfuls so it stays in pockets rather than disappearing.
One dish turns out a proper dinner, and the contrast is what makes it work. There is a lot of chickpea in every serving, so it has weight, and the crumbs give you something to bite against all that softness. Lemon goes on at the end, which sounds like a small thing and is not, since it cuts through the sweetness of the leeks and wakes the whole dish up. I serve it with a green salad when I am feeding company and by itself when I am not, and there is never any left in the dish by the time the plates go in the sink.
Ingredients
- 2 (15 oz) cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed well
- 2 large leeks, white and pale green parts only, halved lengthwise and sliced into thin half moons
- 2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
- 7 oz baby spinach, about 8 packed cups
- 3 slices whole wheat bread, a day or two old, torn into coarse crumbs
- 2 1/2 oz soft goat cheese, in small spoonfuls
- 5 garlic cloves, 3 thinly sliced and 2 finely chopped
- 3 tbsp olive oil, divided
- 2 tsp fresh thyme leaves, from about 8 sprigs
- 1 1/2 tbsp lemon juice, plus wedges for the table
- 1/3 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
- 1/2 tsp coarsely ground black pepper
- Scant 1/4 tsp fine sea salt
Instructions
- Fry the crumbs first: Heat the broiler with a rack set about 6 inches beneath it. Warm 1 1/2 tbsp of the olive oil in a large oven-safe skillet over medium heat, add the torn crumbs, the chopped garlic, and half the thyme, and cook for 3 to 4 minutes, stirring constantly, until the crumbs are golden and smell toasted. Tip them onto a plate straight away, since crumbs left in a hot pan go on toasting until they are bitter, and wipe the pan out with a paper towel.
- Soften the leeks: Return the pan to medium-low heat with the remaining 1 1/2 tbsp olive oil. Add the leeks, the sliced garlic, the rest of the thyme, and the salt, and cook for 6 to 7 minutes, stirring now and then. You want them slumped, glossy, and sweet, with no color on them. If they start to catch, add a splash of water and lower the heat.
- Burst the tomatoes: Raise the heat to medium-high, add the cherry tomatoes cut side down, and leave them alone for 3 minutes until they blister and start to give up their juice, because the blister only happens where the cut face is touching hot metal. Press a few with the back of a spoon to help them along. The pan should look loose and saucy rather than dry.
- Chickpeas and spinach: Stir in the chickpeas and the black pepper and cook for 2 minutes, pressing a spoonful of the beans against the side of the pan so their starch thickens the juices. Add the spinach in three handfuls, folding each one in as it collapses, about 2 minutes in all. Take the pan off the heat and stir in the lemon juice.
- Cheese, crumbs, and the broiler: Dot the goat cheese over the surface in small spoonfuls, scatter the crumbs evenly across the top, and slide the pan under the broiler for 3 to 5 minutes. Watch it the whole time. It is ready when the crumbs are deep brown, the cheese has slumped into white pools, and the sauce is bubbling up around the edge. Shower the parsley over and bring it to the table in the pan.
Variations
- White beans and rosemary: Swap the chickpeas for cannellini beans and the thyme for chopped rosemary, which gives you a softer, creamier gratin.
- Olive and lemon zest: Stir a handful of chopped kalamata olives into the tomatoes and grate lemon zest over the crumbs for a sharper, saltier version.
- Chard rather than spinach: Use a bunch of swiss chard, slicing the stems in with the leeks and folding the leaves in at the spinach stage.
- Anchovy in the crumbs: Melt two anchovy fillets into the oil before the crumbs go in for a savory depth that reads as long cooking.
- Egg on top: Make four wells before broiling, crack an egg into each, and give it seven or eight minutes so the whites set and the yolks stay loose.
Storage & Leftovers
The gratin keeps four days in a sealed container in the refrigerator. The crumbs soften overnight, which is simply what happens once they meet the sauce, and the chickpeas go on absorbing the tomato and the leek so the flavor gets rounder by the second day.
Reheat portions in a small skillet or an oven-safe dish at 400°F for about 10 minutes, uncovered, so the top dries out and crisps again. A microwave heats it through in two minutes and gives you a softer dish, which is fine on a weeknight, though the contrast is worth the oven when you have it.
It freezes for up to two months, and I freeze it without the crumb topping when I plan ahead. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator, warm it in a dish in a hot oven, and fry a fresh handful of crumbs in olive oil while it heats. Five minutes of work and it tastes newly made.
Notes & Tips
- Wash the leeks properly: Grit hides between the layers, so slice them first, then swish the pieces in a bowl of cold water and lift them out, leaving the sand behind.
- Tear the bread, do not grate it: Coarse torn pieces give you shattering crunch and craggy edges. Fine grated crumbs pack into a sandy layer that browns evenly and eats dully.
- Keep the leeks pale: Browning turns them bitter and loses the sweetness that balances the tomato. Low heat, a lid if you need it, and a splash of water when they catch.
- Cut side down on the tomatoes: The flat face against hot metal is what blisters them and releases their juice. Tumbled in whole, they steam and take twice as long to give anything up.
- Stand at the broiler: Three minutes is browned and five minutes is burnt, and the difference happens fast. Do not walk away, and turn the pan once if your broiler runs hot on one side.
- Save the lemon for the end: Added while the pan is still hot on the burner, the brightness cooks off. Off the heat, it stays sharp and cuts the sweetness of the leeks.
Nutrition & Mindful Eating
- Chickpeas, leeks, and spinach are doing three different jobs in one dish. The chickpeas carry the protein and most of the fiber, the leeks melt down into the sweetness that holds it all together, and the spinach folds in at the end for color and a mineral, faintly earthy note.
- Chickpeas keep their shape and their bite even after a spell in a hot pan, and a spoonful of them crushed against the side thickens the tomato juices into a sauce. Their fiber is largely the soluble kind, which is a good part of why a bowl of this sits so well.
- Spinach loses almost all of its bulk the moment it hits heat, which is how eight cups of leaves end up as a dark green thread through the dish, bringing folate and iron along with them.
- Toasted bread crumbs fried in olive oil with garlic and thyme are the texture of the whole thing, and frying them separately is what keeps them shattering rather than soft. They also carry the whole grain in the dish.
- Goat cheese goes on in small spoonfuls so it stays in tangy white pockets, and a little of it does a lot of work against the sweet leeks and the tomato, bringing its calcium along in the bargain.
- As you eat, listen for the crumbs breaking under your fork and notice how the tomato and the lemon keep cutting back through the soft, sweet leeks, and let the pan sit in the middle of the table rather than eating standing up.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use dried beans rather than canned?
Yes, and they are excellent here, though they move this out of the half-hour bracket. Cook a cup and a half of dried chickpeas until tender, which is an hour or more depending on their age, and use about three and a half cups of the cooked beans with a splash of their liquid in place of the cans. Canned is what makes this a Tuesday dinner.
The crumbs went soggy. What did I do wrong?
They almost certainly went on too early, or the pan underneath was too wet. Fry them separately until they are properly crisp and dry, add them only after the pan comes off the heat, and let the tomato sauce reduce for an extra minute if it looks watery. Crumbs sitting in liquid have no chance under the broiler.
What can I use in place of the goat cheese?
Crumbled feta gives you a saltier, firmer result that stays in distinct pieces rather than melting into pools. Ricotta is milder and creamier, and a hard grating cheese such as parmesan works stirred into the crumbs rather than dotted on top. All three are good; they simply give you three different dishes.
Can I make it ahead for a weeknight?
The base takes well to it. Cook everything through the spinach step, cool it, and refrigerate it in the dish for up to three days. When you want to eat, warm it in a 400°F oven for 10 minutes, then add the cheese and freshly fried crumbs and broil. Fry the crumbs the same day, since they lose their crunch in a container.