Chickpea and Leek Soup

A spinoff of potato leek soup, the chickpeas used in place of potatoes boost the soup's fiber and protein content making it a great lunch meal that won't leave you starving at 3 pm. I think you'll find that it's just as tasty as potato leek soup though, especially since there's cheese to compliment the delicately flavored leeks. The soup freezes well which was good since this recipe produces a lot of soup. You can serve the soup multiple ways- blend the entire batch or leave a few chickpeas intact for texture. Heck, there's enough of this soup per batch that you could have it both ways!

Chickpea and Leek Soup

3/4 pound chickpeas (340g) - soaked o/n
3 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp butter
3 leeks, finely sliced
garlic, thinly sliced
4 cups of stock (chicken or vegetable)
pecorino romano, finely grated (two handfuls)

- Pick through chickpeas, cover them in plenty of water, and soak the chickpeas overnight.

- The next day rinse the chickpeas, recover them with water and bring the pot to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer the chickpeas for 30-40 minutes, or until soft.

- Heat olive oil and butter in a large soup pot, add the garlic and let it heat for about 30 seconds. Add the leeks and them slowly, about 10 minutes, until they soften and sweeten.

- Season the leeks with kosher salt and freshly ground pepper. Drain the chickpeas, add three cups of stock and bring to a boil. Blend either all the soup or 1/2 in a food processor, blender, or with a stick blender but please let the soup cool first if you're using a blender! Blend half or all the soup depending on your texture preference.

- Add about 1 more cup of stock or some water to adjust the soup's consistency, add two handfuls of grated cheese to the soup when it's off the heat.

- Serve with a drizzle of good olive oil, a bit more grated cheese, or toasted whole grain bread.


Adapted from Jamie Oliver's - Oliver's Twist