Chickpea Soup

17. January, 2009

I love Jamie Oliver's recipes and his whole philosophy on and approach to food, which is "use organic, local ingredients and avoid the junk". This is an adaptation of one of his recipes. I absolutely love this soup (I am a big chickpea fan). It never fails to impress me, even though it is simple and one of the cheapest soups there is! I often make a huge batch and freeze for when I am pressed for time.

You will need a food processor, or a blender/hand blender to make this recipe.

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A hearty and flavourful soup

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This recipe is:

Egg free
Gluten free
Lactose (dairy) free
Nut free
Vegan

Chickpea Soup

Serves 2

Ingredients

2 leeks, chopped coarsely
1 tablespoon coconut oil
2 garlic cloves, pressed or chopped finely
400 grams (14 oz) tinned chickpeas
2 yeast free vegetable stock cubes
800 millilitres (27 fluid oz) water
30 grams freshly grated (vegan) parmesan
Pinch of pepper (black)
Pinch of salt (Himalaya or sea salt)

Preparation

Wash the 2 leeks thoroughly (sometimes dirt gets stuck in between leaves). Chop the leeks coarsely. Discard the very ends.
Add 1 tablespoon coconut oil to the saucepan.
Add the 2 chopped leeks and fry for 5 minutes. Add a couple of tablespoons water if needed.
Peel the garlic and press into the saucepan. Heat for 2 minutes.
Drain the chickpeas and discard the water. Add chickpeas to saucepan.
Add 300 millilitres water and 2 vegetable stock cubes.
Turn the heat up and let simmer for 15 minutes.
Use a hand blender and blend the soup for 30 seconds for a fairly smooth texture with some lumps and bumps.
Add 500 millilitres water and turn the heat up.
Add a pinch of pepper and salt.
Grate 30 grams fresh parmesan. Serve the parmesan in a small bowl and allow each dinner guest to add the desired amount of parmesan. If you are not vegan you can use the traditional parmesan.

Tips

The soup is lovely with toasted pitta bread or chapatis. Note that pitta bread usually contains yeast.
I love adding mushrooms to this soup, especially Shiitake mushrooms.
You can freeze leftover coconut milk. Freeze in an ice cube tray and use in soups, smoothies and more.
The soup is even better the next day once the flavours have really settled. Pour the soup into plastic containers and re-heat the next day.
For a thinner soup add more water.
If the coconut oil is cold (in which case it becomes solid), place the jar in a bowl filled with hot water for a couple of minutes.
You can use regular stock cubes instead of yeast free ones.
You can use chicken stock instead of vegetable stock.
The soup can be frozen and reheated later.
You can use spring onions instead of leeks.