Chickpea & Leek Soup

This is a recipe that my Aussie friend Bender found in some old recipe book. It is quick and easy to make and it tastes fantastic. The chickpeas go really creamy and moreish and the leeks go silky and sweet. These are just two simple flavours, and even though I’m a bit of a fresh herbs boy, this lovely light soup is very tasty.

Great

% Daily Values based on a 2,000 calorie diet

Step 1

Rinse the soaked chickpeas. Cover with fresh water, and cook with the potato (see ‘How to cook pulses’, page 157) until tender, skimming the surface as necessary. Trim, halve, wash and finely slice the leeks. Warm a thick-bottomed pan, and add the olive oil and the butter. Add the leeks and garlic and sweat gently with a good pinch of sea salt until tender and sweet. Add the drained chickpeas and potato and cook for 1 minute, then add about two-thirds of the stock and simmer for 15 minutes. Now decide if you want to purée the soup in some sort of processor, or leave it chunky and brothy, or do what I do which is purée half and leave the other half whole – this gives a lovely smooth comforting feel but also keeps a bit of texture. Now add enough of the remaining stock to achieve the consistency you like. Taste, season with sea salt and black pepper, and add Parmesan to taste to round off the flavours. This is classy enough for a starter, but I like it best for lunch in a big bowl with a good drizzle of my best peppery extra virgin olive oil, a grinding of black pepper and an extra sprinkling of Parmesan.