I have been recently recipe testing with pulses and had some cooked chickpeas left. I remembered a soup I had in Morocco many years ago and this is my version of it.
A delicious and quick meal for one that can be made with a tin of chickpeas too drained and by adding a few chopped carrots or other vegetables and a little more stock you can easily make this a dish for two.
Ingredients (serves 1)
- 200g cooked chickpeas or drained from a tin
- ½ an onion, finely chopped
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil and extra for frying and drizzling
- A pinch of saffron strands
- ¼ tsp turmeric
- ¼ tsp paprika
- ¼ tsp cumin
- A sprig of thyme, leaves only
- A pinch of dried oregano
- 250ml vegetable stock
- 1 tbsp thick Greek yogurt
- ½ orange juice and zest
- A pinch of chilli flakes
- A pinch of salt flakes
Method
Bring a saucepan to a medium heat and add the oil and onion. Sweat the onion for 5-6 minutes, cooking slowly till the onion has caramelised.
Add the spices and stir cooking for a minute or so more. Reserve 1 tbsp of chickpeas and add the rest to the saucepan with the onion and spices. Stir for a couple of minutes and add the stock, orange juice, half the orange zest and herbs. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat, cover with a lid and cook for 25-30 minutes for the flavours to develop, adding a little more stock if necessary.
While the soup is cooking bring some olive oil in a pan to a high temperature. Drop the reserved chickpeas and fry for a couple of minutes until they are crispy round the edges. Drain on some kitchen paper and sprinkle with some chilli and salt flakes.
Leave to cool for a few minutes, blitz in a blender and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Return to the pan to heat up and serve.
Spoon the hot soup into a bowl. Add the fried chickpeas, loosen the Greek yogurt with 1 tbsp of cold water and drizzle over the soup and sprinkle with the reserved orange zest and herbs.