As a good Abruzzese, one of my favorite winter dishes is chickpea soup, fragrant, creamy, and very tasty. A healthy and genuine dish, also approved by my nutritionist!
The protagonists of this dish are undoubtedly the chickpeas. Both dried and canned ones can be used. If we choose to use dried ones, the process is longer.
The night before preparation, the chickpeas should be soaked in a bowl with cold water, all night long.
The next day, after rinsing them thoroughly, they are placed to cook in a saucepan.
Since not everyone has the same time to dedicate to cooking, today we prepare the fast version of Abruzzese chickpea soup. I have used pre-cooked chickpeas, the canned ones, so in less than thirty minutes, lunch (or dinner) is ready to be served!
In Abruzzo, we serve this dish with or without pasta. It can be enriched with potatoes, carrots, tomatoes, vegetables, and various herbs, making it a unique dish!
Today we prepare it with pasta to bring a rich and complete dish to the table, perfect for warming us up on cold winter days!
Here are the ingredients to prepare the fast version of Abruzzese chickpea soup!
Other recipes you might be interested in!
- Cost: Cheap
- Preparation time: 10 Minutes
- Portions: 2 people
- Cooking methods: Stove
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Fall, Winter
Ingredients
- 1 1/3 cups pasta (to taste)
- 9 oz canned chickpeas (or about 3 oz of dried chickpeas)
- 1 carrot
- 1 tomato (can be omitted if not preferred)
- Half onion (red, golden, or white)
- 1.4 oz celery
- water (or vegetable broth, ABOUT 1 quart)
- to taste salt
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- Half teaspoon chili pepper (fresh, dried, or powdered, only if liked)
- to taste rosemary
- 1 pinch pepper (only if liked)
Tools
- Cutting Board
- Saucepan
- Ladle
Steps
First, make a nice mince with celery, carrot, and onion, cut into very small dice.
Take a large saucepan, add two tablespoons of olive oil and the mince just prepared
Let it wilt over very low heat without burning it. Then add the pre-cooked chickpeas and a tomato cut into small pieces.
Season with some rosemary, chili pepper, and pepper (if you like) and let it go for a couple of minutes always over low heat.
At this point, cover everything with water or, if you prefer, with a nice vegetable broth that you can also prepare the night before.
Cook for about 25 minutes over medium heat with a lid, stirring from time to time.
If you like, you can mash the chickpeas a bit to make the soup even creamier and more rustic.
You can help yourself with the back of a ladle or a potato masher. If you prefer, leave the chickpeas whole.
It’s time to throw in the pasta! Choose the shape you prefer and, ten minutes before the end, put it in the saucepan.
Cover with the lid and wait for the cooking times indicated on the package.
If the soup has dried out too much, add a little more water (hot, of course) or vegetable broth.
Almost at the end of cooking, taste and adjust with salt.
Once ready, plate it, if you like add a sprinkle of grated Parmesan or pecorino, and serve immediately!
The Abruzzese pasta and chickpea soup is ready to be served! Enjoy your meal and see you at the next recipe!
For this soup preparation, I used the Gnocchetti, IGP pasta bronzed drawn, kindly provided by Pastificio Sorrentino (#gifted)
Article protected by copyright © – Gabriella Geroni © All Rights Reserved
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FAQ
I would like to use dried chickpeas, what are the cooking times?
The night before preparation, put the dried chickpeas (3 oz weight for two people) in a bowl with cold water and leave to soak. The next day, RINSE well and proceed to cook them. Put them in a saucepan, cover with COLD water, and salt ONLY AT THE END OF COOKING, otherwise, they become hard. The amount of water to use should be twice the weight of the chickpeas. Bring to a boil, cover with a lid, and cook for about an hour. The cooking time is indicative, check from time to time.
Once cooked, proceed exactly as explained above by adding the sauté and cooking everything for about 30-40 minutes. The last ten minutes of cooking add the pasta until fully cooked.Can I substitute chickpeas with beans?
Sure, if you prefer, you can certainly use beans instead of chickpeas. For a fast version, you can choose, as in this case, canned ones or use dried ones.
In this case, I recommend soaking the beans for about 12 hours, so it will take less time to cook them. Then rinse, drain, and boil the beans in ample water without salt (for about an hour).
Then together with the other ingredients, you will need to cook the soup for another 30-40 minutes approximately. The last 10-12 minutes of cooking add the pasta and finish cooking.
I recommend salting the soup at the end of cooking.
The portion of dried chickpeas (or beans) to use is 3 oz which corresponds to about 9 oz after cooking. Indeed, legumes, once cooked, increase their weight up to three times.What can I use instead of pasta?
To balance the dish, you can use only chickpeas but in this case increase the portion per person to 8 oz and then add the vegetables you like most. For example, chickpea soup is excellent when paired with pumpkin, black cabbage, turnips, red cabbage, savoy cabbage, or other vegetables you like best.
Or you can substitute pasta with potatoes, in this case, 2.5 oz of potatoes per person which you can add (after peeling, washing, and cutting into equally sized cubes) along with the chickpeas. You will get a really creamy and very tasty soup!
