Ancient chickpea and chestnut soup recipe

Chickpeas are one of the most cooked foods these days

Cicer arietinum, belonging to the Fabaceae family, of Turkish origin; it is believed that the first crops already existed in the Bronze Age
A strong plant, a nutritious legume that immediately conquered the farmers
In Italy, chickpeas are consumed in many recipes
The best known are chickpea soup, soups, the Ligurian farinata prepared with flour, or roasted chickpeas, Sicilian panelle, and panissa, chickpea steak and more
It is a legume that many now use as a substitute for meat due to its important protein content
India is the largest consumer and producer
The chickpea plant is about 28-32 inches tall, has beautiful green leaves, and walking through the cultivated rows it almost seems like they have a sticky substance
They are sown in the very first months of the year and are harvested when the plant is practically dry.
Each pod contains one or two seeds
The manual harvest, the division between pod and chickpea occurs with threshing and subsequent sieving to eliminate residues.
I love chickpeas in all their cooking methods

From chickpeas to soup is a short step

One of the soups that I gladly propose in this period is the soup with chestnuts and pig’s trotter
A rich and wintery dish, prepared from November until March, when once upon a time, people cooked the preserved harvest and the meats raised on the farm, in this case with the pig’s trotters, one of the less prized parts.

In November, when with my parents and before that with my grandparents, the pig was slaughtered to produce cured meats and have meat available… Some parts of the pig, including the trotter, were consumed within a few days, partly used along with the head to make head cheese, a delicious natural gelatine meat, but extremely caloric, prepared by cooking the head meats, trotters, and “scrap” parts; which were not scraps, but not noble enough for making cured meats, they were consumed in other forms.

I was born in an area rich in chestnut trees, and dried chestnuts were always available for winter, we have always grown chickpeas in the garden and then dried them to preserve them at their best with some garlic cloves to prevent insect attacks.
Use dried chestnuts and chickpeas soaked the night before, and after sautéing carrot, onion, and celery, add the legumes and the halved pig’s trotter, cover with water and start a slow cooking
Finish with half a clove of garlic chopped along with a small chili pepper and serve with crusty stale bread