Recipe: Smoky Tomato Chickpea Soup

Serves 8

Empty the tomatoes with their juice into a large bowl and using your hands, crush until there are no large chunks.  Set aside.

Rinse chickpeas and set aside.

In a large pot, heat oil over medium-high heat.  Add cumin, coriander, smoked paprika, and hot pepper flakes, and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.  Add onions and cook until translucent, about 4 minutes.  Add carrots, celery, and garlic, and cook another 4 minutes.  Add plum tomatoes and vegetable stock or water.

Increase heat to high and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to a simmer, and cook until all vegetables are tender and soup has thickened, about 30 minutes. Stir in 1 cup of the chickpeas.  Remove from heat, and puree soup in batches in a food processor or blender.**  It shouldn?t be completely smooth.  Return to heat. Add water if it is too thick, and cook a little more if it is too thin.

Stir in remaining chickpeas.  Taste and season with salt and pepper.  Stir in chopped cilantro.  Serve hot.

My notes: I’m lazy and took the following short cuts. This won’t alter the results but will reduce the amount of mess you’ll have to deal with:

* I used diced tomatoes and don’t bother to crush them.

** I used an immersion blender and pureed right in the pot.