Chickpea and Pasta Soup

Okay, I find myself cooking from the pantry and frig once again. I really need to go to the store. Maybe today? This soup was not on the menu plan this week. It was the answer to, "What can I make with canned chickpeas and tomatoes?" In my search, Zuppa Pasta e Ceci kept popping up. In one recipe they describe it as the first cousin to Minestrone. They said the two soup were both thick vegetable soups with beans and pasta. One with beans and one with chickpeas. I am so glad I discovered this soup. It is a delicious, hearty vegetable soup option. Since I was cooking from pantry and frig, I picked what I had and loved about the recipes I found on-line. Some of the recipes started with Pancetta, but one or two used anchovies. I had anchovies, they really add a mysterious salty and savory note to this soup. So good! Almost all of the soups used Ditalini as the pasta of choice for this soup. I used what I had on hand. I think this soup is the perfect use for all the little leftover pasta you have in the pantry. You could even mix the shapes, it would be lovely. The majority of the recipes I found used very little in the way of veggies. I decided to use more, after all that is one of the things I love about soup. The mix of tender veggies are always the best part of the soup bowl. This is definitely a soup I look forward to making again and again.

Chickpea and Pasta Soup
Serves 6

Ingredients

2 Tbsp. olive oil (more for garnish)
1 spring of rosemary
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 anchovy fillets
1 medium onion, diced
2 medium carrots, diced
2 ribs of celery, sliced
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp. dried thyme leaves
1 (15 oz.) can Italian diced tomatoes
2 (15 oz.) cans chickpea, drained and rinsed
6 cups water
3 tsp. chicken bouillon
1/4 tsp. black pepper, or to taste
1/8 tsp. red pepper flakes, or to taste
1/2 cup Gemelli pasta, dry (or any other small shape)
Kosher salt to taste
Parmesan for garnish

Directions

Heat oil in large soup pot or 
Dutch oven over medium heat. Add rosemary sprig, garlic, and anchovies and saute 1 minute to melt the anchovies. Add onion, carrots and celery, saute until onion has softened. Add the bay leaf and thyme, stir to combine and bloom the dried thyme.

Add tomatoes, chickpeas, water and bouillon. Season with black pepper and red pepper flakes. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and simmer 20 minutes. Remove rosemary sprig and bay leaf. Carefully remove a cup of the chickpeas, vegetables and broth. Puree in a blender and return puree to the pot, stir into the soup to thicken the broth.

Add pasta, and cook 10 minutes or just until pasta is al dente. Taste for seasoning and season with salt and more pepper, if necessary. Garnish each serving with Parmesan and a drizzle of olive oil.

Variation: Garnish with hot chili oil instead of Parmesan and olive oil. It is spicy good!

Nutritional Information per serving*: Calories 306.8, Total Fat 8.0 g, Cholesterol 1.8 mg, Sodium 975.1 mg**, Potassium 361.4 mg, Total Carbohydrate 49.4 g, Dietary Fiber 7.8 g, Sugars 6.2 g, Protein 10.0 g
WW P+ 8

*Information from the Sparkrecipes calculator. NI may vary depending on the brand or size of the ingredients used to prepare it.

**Next time I make this recipe I will omit the water and chicken bouillon and use low sodium, fat free chicken broth. I think this will lower the sodium a bit.

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