CHICKPEAS are often cooked with spinach, from India to the New World. But in southern Spain, they are mostly made with chorizo. Combine these ideas, and you have a rich, deep, full-flavored stew perfect for a fast dinner on a cold night.

The texture of the dish is heightened by drying the cooked chickpeas between paper towels, then shallow-frying them in olive oil. Instead of being mealy, they become crunchy-mealy  a change most people, I think, will like.

Once the chickpeas begin to brown  this will take a little while, 10 minutes or so  you add chorizo (Spanish, please; not the fresher, softer Mexican kind). As the chorizo cooks, its color, which comes mostly from pimentón, will leach out a bit, turning the oil a nice orange and flavoring the chickpeas.

When the beans and chorizo are crisp, you scoop them out and put spinach in the pan with some sherry, a classic Andalusian ingredient. The spinach will release its liquid, which will quickly evaporate, leaving behind not only a nice soft green but a deep iron-y flavor.