lifestyle.soup

Chickpea, mushroom and tomato soup

A simple chickpea soup. It goes without saying that you can use a tin of chickpeas instead, but I’d rather cook my own. When I bother, I usually cook the whole packet and freeze the leftovers for another dish. Serves 4
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chickpeas 200g, soaked overnight
sage 1 sprig
garlic 4 cloves
dried mushrooms 20g
onion 1, small
celery 2 sticks
carrot 1, small
olive oil 3 tbsp

parsley a small bunch
thyme 3 sprigs

chilli flakes a pinch

tomato passata 100g

Drain, rinse and boil the chickpeas in plenty of water with the sage leaves and 2 of the garlic cloves. Remove the scum that comes to the surface with a ladle and top up with water where necessary. They will probably take an hour to cook.
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Reconstitute the mushrooms in boiled water for 15 minutes. Chop the onion, celery, carrot and remaining garlic to make the sofrito. In a soup pan, begin to sweat the sofrito in olive oil with a pinch of salt. Cook slowly for 20 minutes. Chop the parsley, including the stalks, pick the thyme leaves and add the mushrooms (reserving the water), giving everything a final chop together. Add to the sofrito with a pinch of chilli; cook over a medium heat for 7 minutes more.

Add the passata and after 5 minutes follow with the chickpeas, wine and reserved mushroom water, avoiding any grit at the bottom. Adjust the seasoning and keep simmering for 30 minutes, adding water where necessary. Serve warm.