Chickpea Stew

This recipe comes from Sergi Millet via Food and Wine. A solid recipe. As usual I cannot help myself and I had to tweak. I added some celery because I had it in the fridge and needed to use it up. I'm not sure why the recipe tells you to maintain such a small amount of water for pre-cooking the chickpeas. I filled a stock pot about 2/3 full and then let the chickpeas simmer for 2 hours and didn't have to constantly watch to make sure the water level was right. If someone can give me a compelling reason for doing it the way the recipe says, I'd be much obliged.

2 cups dried chickpeas, soaked overnight and drained
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 large onion, finely diced
1 1/2 teaspoons finely chopped rosemary
1 bay leaf
One 28-ounce can Italian tomatoes, chopped, 1 cup juice reserved
1/2 pound soft cooked chorizo, sliced 1/4 inch thick
1 pound spinach, thick stems discarded
Salt and freshly ground pepper

In a medium saucepan, cover the chickpeas with 2 inches of water and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer until the chickpeas are tender, about 2 hours; add more water as necessary to maintain the level. Drain the chickpeas and reserve 1 cup of the cooking water.

In a medium, enameled cast-iron casserole, heat the olive oil. Add the garlic, onion, rosemary and bay leaf and cook over moderate heat until the onion is softened, about 7 minutes. Add the tomatoes and cook over moderately high heat until sizzling, about 4 minutes. Add the chorizo, the cooked chickpeas and their reserved cooking water and the tomato juice and bring to a simmer. Stir in half of the spinach and cook until wilted, then stir in the remaining spinach. Simmer over moderately low heat for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Season with salt and pepper.

MAKE AHEAD The stew can be refrigerated for up to 3 days. Reheat gently.