Saturday, January 22, 2011

Spicy Chickpea and Tomato Soup

Winter time and the soups on. This lip tingling spicy soup will have you warmed up in no time!
SpicyChickpeaSoup

Grilled cheese and tomatoe soup  is one of my favorites!   Also, substitutions in this recipe are not only allowed but make for a new and exciting soup every time.

Ingredients
3 garlic cloves, minced (depending on the size of the clove, I may still add a lot more than that. I love garlic)
3 dried red hot chili peppers, or 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes, or jarred green chiles, or fresh chiles. Any chiles will do I bet.

2 TB olive oil
3/4 tsp course salt
1 tsp coriander
1/8 tsp caraway seeds

I don't have coriander or caraway seeds and substitute both for
1 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/4 tsp cardamon
1/8 tsp paprika

1 can (15ounces) chickpeas drained and rinsed.     
I now use dried chickpeas, which when cooked, come out to a little more than double the size.

1 1/2 cups crushed canned tomatoes         
The cans I use hold more than that and unless I need it for a pizza or something I put it all in.

1/2 cup drained jarred roasted red peppers, rinsed.             
These have an interesting flavor but red bell pepper (about a half), diced works as well.

3 1/2 cups homemade chicken stock (slaughtering your own chickens yet?)

Sour cream for serving is a MUST

Making it
1.  I'm not sure how neccessay it is to mush all these seasonings into a paste but give it a try. Using a mortar and pestle or the back of a spoon, crush garlic, chiles, salt and seasoning to form paste.
2.  If using bell pepper instead of jarred pepper, saute it here.  Heat olive oil in sauce pan over medium-high heat and cook paste for a few minutes. Oil helps bring out seasoning, right?
3.  Stir in tomatoes, chickpeas, roasted red peppers and stock. Simmer for 15 minutes. The chickpeas will settle to the bottom, so stir occasionally so they don't get stuck.
4.  Let cool slightly. Now this gets fun, blend hot soup in a blender! Work in small batches, puree well.
5. Reheat if needed.  Serve with a scoop of sour cream, a splash of olive oil and grilled cheese of course.  ;)


Based on "Spiced Chickpea and Tomato Soup" from Martha Stewart Living 2007

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Do you soak the chickpeas first or just add them dried? Thanks!

Kaija said...

Sorry for not posting back sooner! I obviously do not get a lot of comments. I soak the chickpeas first, either bring to a boil and soak for an hour in the hot water or soak overnight, then I simmer them until tender before adding them. It can take quite a while before they are tender.