Yes! Another soup. This soup is tasty, economical and quick.  It is perfect for a cold winter night. I rarely make a soup that does not have diced tomatoes.  I resisted adding  my little cherubs to this dish. Hubs said it’s a “do-again”. Glad I bought two cans of chickpeas.  I did, however, add sausage.  I love sausage. Italian sausage, chicken sausage, or even turkey sausage will work. I throw it on a parchment lined cookie sheet and roast (bake) it.  I slice the cooled sausage and spoon into the pan. Let’s call it protein. Just humor me.

The ingredients are simple. There is no technique you are required to master. Can you roughly chop vegetables? Then you can make this soup. The original recipe suggests you sort out some chickpeas from the soup and puree them, to add back to the soup. I did not have a magnifying glass or tweezers handy to separate the cooked onion, celery and carrots from the chickpeas, so I ladled some into a metal mixing cup, like you would use to make an ice cream soda, and used my immersion blender. Yeah. Don’t do that. I forgot about science. Metal conducts heat, and when you go to pour the puree back in, your hand will melt. Use a non-metal container, or just put the immersion blender in the pot and give it a quick blend. But not too much. Or not at all.

Let me tell you what I’ve learned about using a garlic press. Do not peel the  garlic clove. The press self-cleans (almost) if you have the garlic skin to pull. Rinse and repeat. I am all about easy cleanup.

Let’s make some soup

Ingredients

1 pound sausage (optional….insert sad face)

3 tbsp. olive oil

2 stalks celery, roughly chopped

2 carrots, roughly chopped

2 onions, roughly chopped

3 sprigs of rosemary, minced

2 cloves, garlic (optional)

4 cups of vegetable stock

1 15-ounce can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed

8 ounces of small pasta, like mini shells or cavatelli

Kosher salt and pepper, to taste

Parmesan cheese, for serving.

If you are serving this with sausage, heat your oven to 350 degrees before you start the soup. By the time the sausage is cooked, your soup will be ready.  Bake the sausage for about 30 minutes, turning halfway, so all sides evenly brown. Let cool and slice into mouth-size bits.

Heat oil in a 4 quart saucepan or Dutch oven over a medium-high heat. Add rosemary, celery, carrot and onion and cook until soft. The original recipe calls for one small onion. Two makes it so much better. Let the veggies slowly soften. Don’t let it brown. Pull the pan off the heat and add a little more olive oil, if it starts to brown.  Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Add the stock and chickpeas and simmer for about 5 or 10 minutes.  I reduced the vegetable broth from 6 to 4 cups, You can always add more later. If you have an immersion blender, puree the mixture a little. You can ladle out the veggies into a blender and puree. Pour the puree back into the pan. This will help thicken the soup. Add the pasta and cook for about 10-12 minutes. As the pasta cooks it will absorb lots of the liquid. The soup will thicken into a stew-like mixture. Season with salt and pepper. I slice up the cooked sausage and add it at the end. I like to let all the flavors meld together by simmering the soup for about 5 minutes. You can thin it out with some water or more vegetable stock. Let it stand for a few minutes to thicken, before you thin it out. Kapeesh?

To serve this soup, add some shavings of Parmesan. Fancy! Use a vegetable peeler to shave slices. You can also top it with grated Parmesan. Dinner in a bowl. Such a filling and flavorful soup. Enjoy!