chickpeas and leek soup recipe

How to make easily one of most tasty and delicious chickpeas and leek soup at home.

There are two way to prepare this chickpeas and leek soup, I’ll give both them to you so you will decide which suits you more.This is my first recipe written in English which I tried. I got a recipe book as Xmas Present 2 years ago and so I started to cook getting my inspiration also from most famous British and Irish chef …This recipe is quick and easy to make and it always tastes fantastic.

Ingredients:

340/12oz chickpea, soaked overnight or 1 can of chickpeas
1 medium potato, peeled
5 medium leeks
1 tablespoon olive oil
knob of butter
2 clove of garlic, finely sliced
salt and freshly ground black pepper
850 ml/ 1 12 pints chicken or vegetable stock
Parmesan cheese, granted
extra virgin olive oil

Preparation 1:

Tip: If you use dried chickpeas, remember cover with water for 12 hours. I usually do it the evening before so I can use them the following day.

Rinse the soaked chickpeas, cover with water and cook with potato until tender.
Remove the outer skin of the leeks, slice lengthways from the root up, wash carefully and slice finely as showed in the photo.
Warm a thick-bottomed pan, and add the tablespoon of oil and the knob of butter.
Add the leeks and garlic to the pan, and sweat gently with a good pinch of salt until tender and sweet.

Add the drained chickpeas and potato and cook for 1 minute.
Add about 2/3 of stock and simmer for 15 minutes.

Now decide if you want to puree the soup in some sort of processor, or leave it chunky and broth.
I always prepare the puree with half of chickpeas and I add the other half to the pan.
In this way I have a lovely smooth comforting feel but also I keep a bit of texture.
Now add enough of the remaining stock and achieve the consistency you like more.
Check for seasoning, add the Parmesan to taste to the round off the flavours.

I like it so much this soup that I prepare often it for lunch or for dinner. I simply love the combination of chickpeas and leek together. Try this soup at home and make you own decision.
This is can be a starter or main course, this is up to you, for me it works great as main course both as dinner or as lunch.
Finish serving in a large bowl with a good drizzle of extra virgin oil olive and a grinding of black pepper and an extra sprinkling of Parmesan.

Tips for Preparation 2 of chickpeas and leek soup:

Boil 2-4 medium peeled potatoes and dry them.
Buy a can of chickpea and puree half and leave the other half whole…as the recipe above said.
Tip: the preparation time: 20 minutes. The chickpeas and potatoes are already cooked.
Use a cube of vegetable to prepare the stock. To prepare the veg stock, boil 700 ml of water and add the veg cube to the hot water.
Be aware that the potatoes absorb the salt. Taste the dish before serving and if it is saltless, add more salt.
The steps are exactly the same as prep.1, the difference between the two methods is that the ingredients here are already cooked. In this way, I make the dinner in 20-30 minutes.
Tip: I tried both methods and they both worked out fantastic. The short version is my idea (preparation 2) and it tastes amazing. I like it because I can save much time, which is wonderful.

Hope you will love this chickpeas and leek soup as much I do. All the time, I have the same reaction: I want more soup!

Alessandra Simple Recipes