you must make this soup...now

I love soup. Even more, I love making soup. It brings me such joy. Probably because it's all one gobbly-goopy mess anyway, so I don't have to worry much about precision, that is, cutting and chopping things just so. Making soup suits the messy side of my personality just perfectly. Anyway, enough of the introduction. Here is one of my favorites, which I have been meaning to share here for a while now, just like everything else in my head. This one's easy, though; the rest of the head stuff will take a while to sort out into blogs. But stay tuned because those will be fun to read, of course.

Anyway, I digress. This soup, my friends, is creamy-schmemy goodness down to the last scraping of the spoon -- or licking of the bowl, whichever strikes your fancy. It's from Jamie Oliver's (aka, The Naked Chef) cookbook, which was given to us as a gift by Shaun's sister Liz several Christmases ago. You'll be happy to know, Liz, that the soup has become a family favorite. And Jean and Jill, it is only 4 Weight Watchers points per serving. Can I get a 'woop, woop?'

Okay, seriously, here is the recipe:

Serves 6

12 oz chickpeas, soaked overnight (for moms of 2-year-olds, I recommend using the canned variety, which is much quicker and doesn't involve the possible risk of spilled dried chickpeas all over the kitchen floor)
1 medium potato, peeled (I sometimes skip this)
5 medium leeks (leeks are so yummy; they look like a giant green onion and taste like one too)
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp butter (I use low fat if I'm being good ;-))
2 cloves of garlic, finely sliced
salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 cups chicken or vegetable stock (I use chicken)
Parmesan cheese, grated (again, low fat if you want it to be lighter)

How to create a warm and fuzzy bowl-o-goodness:

Rinse the soaked chickpeas, cover with water, and cook with potato until tender. (Again, I suggest using canned chickpeas and even skipping the potato...it's faster). Remove the outer skin of the leeks, slice lengthways from the root up, wash carefully and slice finely.

Warm a thick-bottomed pan, and add the oil and butter. Add the leeks and garlic to the pan,and cook gently with a good pinch of salt until tender and sweet. Add the drained chickpeas and potato and cook for 1 minute. Add about 2/3 of the stock and simmer for 15 minutes.

Now big decision, people. Huge. Life-changing: Decide if you want to puree the soup in some sort of processor (I usually just mash some of it by hand with a potato masher or you could use a hand blender instead of toting out the processor, you know) -- whether you want to leave it chunky and brothy. Jamie says his preference is to puree half and leave the other half whole. And I like Jamie, so I do what he does. Now, add enough remaining stock to achieve the consistency you like. Check for seasoning, and add Parmesan to tast to round off the flavors.

I'm telling you, you will love it. It's not a cream-based soup, but the chickpeas are so hearty that it almosts tastes like one. Anyway, go forth and make soup and leave your comments/reviews here...but only if they're positive, because my heart would really be broken if you didn't like it.

Seriously.


Well, kind of.