Chickpea and Garlic Soup
Ingredients
- 4-6 garlic cloves, unpeeled
- 1 (15 oz) can chickpeas
- 1 1/4 C broth (I usually use vegetable broth, chicken broth is very good, too)
- 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
Optional Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp lemon juice
- 1 Tbsp minsed fresh parsley, tarragon, or chives
- Shredded Chicken or Turkey, precooked
Instructions
Garlic prep
Toast the garlic in a medium saucepan over medium heat, moving it around occasionally, until it is fragrant and the skins have begun to brown. Roughly five minutes.
Alternatively, you could to some actual roasted garlic, too, but that makes this dish take a lot longer to toss together, and so I don't normally bother.
Either way, once the garlic is appropriately cooked, set it aside to cool enough to handle.
Soup Time
Add the broth and the whole can of chickpeas, including their liquid, to the saucepan and bring to a simmer and reduce to a medium-low heat. When the garlic can be handled well enough, peel it and add it to the saucepan. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the chickpeas begin to break down, about 5 to 7 minutes. This is pretty flexible on the timing.
Finishing steps
Process the soup in a blender, or use an immersion blender, until smooth.
If you're adding some extra protien, add it now and continue cooking at a low to medium-low temp until it's brought up to temperature. A great way to use up a little leftovers.
Off heat, season with salt, pepper, and paprika. If you're adding some lemon juice or fresh herbs, now's the time for those as well.
Notes
While you can definitely do more with this, I definitely recommend keeping this simple, it's a very nice soup that's easy to throw together.
It's very easy to double (or more) the recipe, and it freezes very well.
Recipe based on this from America's Test Kitchen (you'll need an active subscription to actually see the recipe)