Recipe Nonna’s Italian Chickpea Soup
Healthy choice
Soy-free option
Refined sugar free
Nut-free option
Budget friendly
Easy peasy
One-pot recipe
Kid-friendly
Comfort food
Soups
An essential to every cook’s repertoire, this minestrone is a classic — hearty, healthy, and highly adaptable!
You will need
Serves 4
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 sprig (9 cm) rosemary
- 3 sprigs thyme
- 1 bay leaf
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 1 celery stalk, diced
- 1 medium carrot, diced
- 1 1/2 cups tomato passata
- 8 cups (2 litres) vegetable stock
- 425 g tin chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 3/4 cup small macaroni pasta
- Salt & cracked black pepper, to taste
- 1/3 cup chopped parsley
- 1 teaspoon chilli flakes, to serve
Directions
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Step 1
Place a large soup pot over medium heat. Add the oil, rosemary, thyme, bay leaf, and garlic and sauté for 1 minute. Add the onion, celery and carrot and sauté for a further 8-9 minutes until softened.
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Step 2
Add the tomato passata, stock, and chickpeas and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes.
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Step 3
Add the pasta, and cook for a further 6-7 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the macaroni is al dente.
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Step 4
Season to taste with salt and pepper and stir through the chopped parsley.
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Step 5
Ladle into bowls, add a pinch of red chilli flakes and drizzle with extra virgin olive oil.
Hot tip!
Not listed, but highly recommended by one Italian reader of ours, is a very important ingredient — love! Most Italians will tell you, if there’s one consistent ingredient used in every variation of ‘nonna’s soup’ the world over, it is a healthy dose of love 🙂
