Hearty Vegetable Soup with Chickpeas Recipe

SERVES 4
HANDS-ON TIME 25 minutes
COOK TIME 1 hour

Ingredients

2 tbs extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp unsalted butter
1 leek, white part only, finely sliced
2 garlic cloves, very finely chopped
2 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
5 cups chopped vegies, cut into 1.5cm pieces (see note)
400g can crushed tomatoes
4 cups vegetable stock
400g can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
2 cups baby spinach leaves
1 handful of flat-leaf parsley leaves, finely chopped
Pesto, ricotta and/or freshly grated parmesan, to serve

Method

Heat the olive oil and butter in a large, heavy-based saucepan over medium-high heat for 1 minute. Add the leek and cook, stirring, for 1–2 minutes or until it’s softened and soaked up the butter. Stir through the garlic, along with the ground turmeric, ground cumin and ground coriander and cook, stirring, for about 2–3 minutes until fragrant.
Add any firm vegetables at this point. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 4–5 minutes to develop the flavour. If they start to stick to the bottom of the pan, you can add a few teaspoons of stock or water or a little more olive oil. Stir through the tomatoes, then add the vegetable stock and 2 cups water and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover with the lid and gently simmer for 30 minutes.
Remove the lid, add any soft vegetables, along with the chickpeas. Simmer for 10 minutes or until everything is tender. Turn off the heat and stir the spinach and parsley through the soup. Taste and season with salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper, to taste.
Ladle soup into serving bowls. Serve with a dollop of pesto, a spoonful of ricotta and/or a sprinkle of parmesan.

Note Firm vegies to add at step 2 (these take longer to cook): Carrot, celery, zucchini, potato, pumpkin, parsnip, capsicum. Soft vegies to add at step 3 (these need less time to cook): Green beans, cabbage, broccoli, peas,
cauliflower, kale, corn kernels and silverbeet.

Nutrition (per serve)