Saturday, March 13, 2010

A soup kind of day

We have had an incredibly mild winter this year - very few cold days, hardly any snow.....quite frankly it's been a dream season for us and the baby. No worrying about having to take him out in freezing cold temperatures. No driving on snow and ice covered roads. No major snowstorms to shovel out of while pregnant or recovering from surgery. I'm sure we're in for a bad summer with such low snow levels and that sucks but still. It was good for us.
Which was why yesterday morning was such a shock when we got a 2 inch snow dump in just a few short hours. It was cold (well, below zero) and by the time I was done shoveling I was exhausted and my back was screaming in pain. Out of practice, I guess.

Early last year, or maybe even in 2008 we saw an episode of a Jamie Oliver show where he cooked a leek and chickpea soup. I made a note in one of my notebooks about it -

leek chickpea soup
jamie oliver

leek
dry cpeas
potato
broth
puree
parm

I'd recently stocked up on canned beans at a grocery store sale so I picked up a couple of fat leeks late last week. Yesterday was definitely a soup kind of day.

I didn't follow his recipe exactly; here's what I did:

Leek and Chickpea Soup

2 tb oil
2 large leeks
4 cloves garlic
1 medium or large potato
1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 1/2 cups water
4 cups vegetable or chicken stock
1/2 cup or more grated parmesan cheese

Heat the oil over medium heat in a large pot. Cut the roots and the dark green ends off the leeks, and cut them down the middle lengthwise. Rinse very very well under running water to get rid of all the dirt. Shake off excess water and roughly chop. Add to the pot, season with salt and cook, stirring occasionally for 10-15 minutes, until the leeks are soft and just start to color. Chop the garlic and add to the pot and cook for 3-4 minutes. Dice the potato and add to the pot along with the chickpeas, water and broth. Bring to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes or so, until the potatos are tender. Puree the soup in a blender or with an immersion blender. Stir in the cheese and let melt, then taste and adjust seasoning with salt, pepper and more cheese if desired.

3 comments:

Karen Baking Soda said...

Oh yum!! Have you ever tried his fresh pea soup?

Sara said...

No I don't think I have! Will have to look for the recipe.

Ange said...

I Looovvveee this soup & have been cooking it for years, hope you enjoyed it too?