Hearty Chickpea Soup

The perfect Fall and Winter Comfort food. This Hearty Chickpea Soup, made with loads of chickpeas, potato, tomatoes and spices is made creamy by blending half the ingredients, adding a little pasta makes it perfect. A meal all in itself!

If you are a chickpea lover than you should give this other Chickpea Soup a try. When it comes to Fall and Winter, A delicious Creamy Soup , Potato Soup or an Italian Beef Stew are always my favourite meals to make. Nothing like a big bowl of soup to warm you up!

I also love to make beans and I prefer dried beans from Chickpeas, black beans, borlotti beans, cannellini beans to navy beans, they are so much better than canned beans. You just have to plan in advance since it takes 8 hours for soaking.

Recipe Ingredients

• Olive oil
• Onion
• Garlic
• Celery
• Potato
• Chickpeas – dried and soaked or canned and drained
• Tomatoes
• Spices – parsley, oregano, basil, salt and pepper
• Pasta – small pasta such as ditalloni

How to make a Hearty Chickpea Soup

In a large pot add the olive oil, minced onion, garlic and celery, saute on low/medium heat until clear.

Then add the potatoes, chickpeas, tomatoes, water and spices simmer on low/medium until tender and thickened. In the last 15 minutes cook the pasta in a separate pot until al dente then drain well, do not rinse (I prefer Orecchiette pasta in this soup).

Remove half the cooked soup and blend until smooth, return to the pot, add the pasta and heat until hot. Serve with fresh grated parmesan cheese if desired. 

Cooking Dried Beans

There are three different methods for cooking dried beans, the first which is the Traditional Method, is what I usually do and that is to soak the beans for 8 hours.

I place the dried beans (I rinse them in cold water first) in a bowl of cold water before I go to bed and in the morning they are ready for cooking, just drain, rinse and cook.

The second method is the Hot Soak method, place beans in a large pot and cover with 10 cups of water for every 2 cups of beans.

Then heat to boiling and continue to boil for 2-3 minutes. Remove the pot from the heat and let stand for 4-24 hours, then drain the beans and cook.

The third method is the Fastest method which I have yet to try. Place the beans in a large pot and add 6 cups of water for every 2 cups of beans.

Then heat to boiling and continue to boil for 2-3 minutes. Remove the beans from the heat and let stand one hour. Drain the beans and rinse with cold water. Then cook until tender.

This Creamy Chickpea Soup was made creamy not by the addition of cream, but by blending half the ingredients and then adding it to the pot with the remaining mixture.

I also found that adding Orecchietti pasta was the perfect choice in this soup. I also cooked the pasta before adding it to the soup.

Can I use canned chickpeas?

If using canned chickpeas, then drain and rinse, use 2 cups of water and cook for approximately 30 minutes, add more water if needed.

How to store the Chickpea Soup

Any leftover soup should be stored in the fridge in an airtight container. It will keep for about 3-4 days.

If you plan on freezing the soup, then freeze it in a freezer safe container. But be sure to freeze it without the addition of pasta. The pasta will get too mushy and it won’t be very tasty. It will keep for up to four months in the freezer.

What to serve with this Hearty Chickpea Soup

• Since this is such a filling Comfort food, I always find that one of the perfect side dishes is a Simple Tossed Salad but here are a few more to choose from …
• Shredded Brussel Sprouts Salad
• Roasted Vegetables, Italian style
• Homemade Focaccia or Bread
• A Roasted Parsnip Salad

If you are looking for a Comforting Meal this Fall or Winter I hope you give this Chickpea Soup a try and let me know what you think. Buon Appetito!