If you’re craving a rustic, comforting soup try this chickpea soup with mushrooms — a substantial and tasty vegetarian dish that, served with a few slices of toasted bread, can also be a well-balanced one-dish meal.
What we’ll make today is the classic chickpea soup recipe from my mother’s recipe book, enriched with mushrooms. I make it every winter, but using frozen or dried mushrooms you can cook it all year round.
Together with pasta and beans and ribollita, this is one of my go-to recipes when cold, rainy days begin because it comforts me.
It’s a very easy recipe that you can prepare either using dried chickpeas (which must be soaked in water) or canned chickpeas (a real time-saver). The version with rehydrated dried chickpeas will be a bit more flavorful and hearty, but believe me the quick canned version is exceptional and ready in 30 minutes.
I’ll give you both procedures and leave the choice to you depending on the time you have and how much you want to cook; in any case the result will be a fragrant and tasty chickpea and mushroom soup perfect for lunch or dinner: a healthy, genuine dish that the whole family will enjoy.
- Difficulty: Very easy
- Cost: Budget-friendly
- Preparation time: 20 Minutes
- Cooking time: 40 Minutes
- Portions: 4
- Cuisine: Italian
- Energy 405.44 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 44.59 (g) of which sugars 6.82 (g)
- Proteins 20.74 (g)
- Fat 15.83 (g) of which saturated 2.27 (g)of which unsaturated 4.19 (g)
- Fibers 12.75 (g)
- Sodium 1,242.90 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 250 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients
- 1.5 cups dried chickpeas (or 14 oz (about 1 3/4 cups) canned chickpeas)
- 3 cups mushrooms (porcini or champignon, fresh or frozen)
- 3/4 oz dried mushrooms
- carrot (1 medium)
- onion (1 medium)
- 1 clove garlic
- rosemary (1 sprig)
- to taste salt
- 1 pinch black pepper (ground)
- vegetable broth (about 4 1/4 cups (1 liter))
- 3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
Tools
- 1 Pot
Steps
NOTE
If you use dried chickpeas, soak them in cold water for at least 12 hours, then drain and rinse them under cold running water.
If you opted for canned chickpeas, drain them from their preserving liquid and rinse them well under cold running water.
Soak the dried mushrooms in warm water for about 15 minutes, then drain, squeeze lightly and roughly chop them.
Clean the fresh mushrooms (porcini or champignon) by removing the earthy part of the stem and wiping them with a damp cloth. Then cut them into roughly 3/8-inch (1 cm) cubes.
Wash the carrot and onion and finely chop them.
Heat 3 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil in a pot with 1 clove of garlic, the chopped onion and carrot and a sprig of rosemary. As soon as it starts to sizzle remove the garlic and rosemary and add the chopped dried mushrooms and the fresh mushrooms.
Let them flavor for a minute, season with salt, add a grind of black pepper, pour in two ladles of vegetable broth and continue cooking over low heat for another 10 minutes. If the cooking base dries out too much, add more broth.
Add the previously soaked chickpeas, 2 1/2 cups of broth and continue cooking covered over low heat for about 1 hour, checking occasionally so the base doesn’t dry out too much.
If you use canned chickpeas, since they are pre-cooked the times will be much shorter: simply add them to the mushrooms with 1 ladle of broth and cook for 5 minutes to let them absorb the flavors well.
Your chickpea and mushroom soup will be ready when the chickpeas have softened but are not falling apart. Adjust salt if necessary, serve with a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil and a grind of pepper, accompanied by very hot toasted bread croutons.
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STORAGE
Once ready, the chickpea and mushroom soup can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.
Alternatively, you can freeze it.
NOTES
If you prefer a creamier, more velvety soup you can puree part of the chickpeas.
For a stronger flavor add diced pancetta or guanciale to the soffritto; it won’t be vegetarian anymore but you’ll love it.
You can also add diced potatoes to the chickpea and mushroom soup. In that case put them to cook at the same time you add the chickpeas.
