Provencal Chickpea Soup (Fourmade)
Easy to master: Provencal chickpea soup is so surprisingly rich and luxurious tasting that even my 9-year-old son is convinced it has cream.
Equipment
- 1 blender
Ingredients
- 1 cup (128g) Chickpea Flour
- 2 quarts (1.9L) Cool Water 8 cups
- 1 tsp Herbes de Provence
- 2 tsp Cumin
- 1 tsp Aleppo pepper or Espelette (or nothing)
- 2 tsp Flaked Sea Salt
- 1/2 tsp Black Pepper
- 1/4 cup (60ml) Olive Oil
Optional ingredients:
- 2 Leeks washed well and diced
- 2 tbsp Olive Oil
- 15 oz (425g) Canned Chickpeas
Instructions
- Put chickpea flour, water, herbes, cumin, Aleppo, salt, pepper, and oil into a blender and blend until smooth, about 15 seconds.
- Pour the contents into a Dutch oven and heat slowly over low to medium heat until hot, about 30 minutes, stirring often. Adjust seasoning to your taste.
Optional Additions:
- For the leeks, slowly cook washed leeks in olive oil over a low flame at a grandmotherly pace until they almost melt, about 30 minutes. Add to soup.
- For the chickpeas, open can and add both the liquid and the chickpeas.
Notes
Tip: Use a whisk to stir the soup to keep it from scorching on the bottom. There is nothing worse than eating gritty leeks, but I learned a trick for easily cleaning them. Dice the leeks and cover them with cold water in a large bowl. Add 1 tablespoon of salt and agitate the water. The salt acts as an abrasive, and the dirt and sand will settle to the bottom of the bowl. With a slotted spoon, scoop the leeks out of the water. Do not pour the leeks and water through a strainer because you would just be pouring the sand back over the leeks.
Marcella Hazan Version: In her lovely book, Marcella Cucina, Marcella offers a simple variation made without chickpea flour. Simply slowly cook leeks, add cooked chickpeas and water and simmer until done. Puree a few ladle fulls of soup and add back to the broth. Finish soup with grated Parmesan and black pepper.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!