Meatless Monday – Garlicky Spinach and Chickpea Soup

Somehow I seem to have subscribed to receive recipes from the Washington Post via email. This is not necessarily a bad thing, as it brought me this recipe last week. Since you need some sort of subscription to access the recipe there (it may be free, just sign up to receive their emails I think, which is likely how I ended up with it). (UPDATE: Clearly my memory is deeply flawed. I just realized that I did not receive this recipe in an email from Washington Post, I saw it on Suzanne’s blog, Life of a Doctor’s Wife.) I did a search and found the recipe on the PureWow website. Both WP and PW give full credit to a new cookbook, The Mediterranean Dish. The recipe looked right up my alley, so I decided to give it a try. It’s a definite WIN, delicious and healthy. If you decide to make it, don’t forget the lemon and the cheese at the end, they kind of made the dish. Now I’m considering buying the cookbook, though one thing I do NOT need in my life is more cookbooks. But if all of the recipes are as good as this one, it might be worth finding room for it around here. In the meantime, I will likely poke around the author’s website, as it looks like she has some pretty delicious recipes there. I used more spinach than it called for, and I used both pecorino romano and parmigiano reggiano cheeses, as I had them both already. Otherwise I stuck with the recipe. It’s a brothy soup, not thick like a stew. We had some leftover sausage and just a bit of chicken in the fridge, I put those in Ted’s bowl of soup to make up for him not getting any bread. This recipe is pretty adaptable. Don’t like cooked spinach? Use a green you do like. I had extra arugula, so used some arugula and some spinach. Don’t like garlic? Leave it out. Vegan? Skip the cheese (though I really liked the cheese on top, perhaps my vegan friends might know of a substitute). You could probably even substitute cannellini beans for the chickpeas. Whatever floats your boat.

Garlicky Spinach and Chickpea Soup

Ingredients

• Two 15-ounce cans chickpeas
• Extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 large yellow onion, roughly chopped
• 4 or 5 large garlic cloves, minced
• Kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• ¾ teaspoon sweet paprika
• ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 4 cups vegetable stock or low-sodium chicken broth
• 2 cups (packed) fresh baby spinach (2 to 3 ounces)
• ½ cup roughly chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 1 large lemon, cut in half
• ½ cup grated Pecorino Romano cheese
• Crusty bread, for serving

Directions

1. Drain the chickpeas, reserving ½ cup of their liquid.

2. In a large pot, heat 3 tablespoons of the olive oil over medium heat until shimmering. Add the onion and garlic and season with a big pinch of salt (about ½ teaspoon). Cook over medium heat, stirring regularly, until fragrant, about 5 minutes. Add the cumin, coriander, paprika, red pepper flakes and black pepper and cook, stirring regularly for about 30 seconds.

3. Add the chickpeas and stir to coat with the spices. Using a potato masher or the back of a sturdy fork, roughly mash the chickpeas (you’re just looking to break some of them up).

4. Add the stock and the reserved chickpea liquid. Increase the heat and bring to a boil, then boil for 5 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium-low and partly cover the pot with the lid. Simmer the chickpeas for 30 minutes.

5. Turn the heat off. Stir in the spinach and parsley, and let the soup sit for 1 minute, until the spinach wilts. Squeeze half a lemon over the soup, stir and taste, adding more lemon juice to your liking.

6. Transfer the soup to serving bowls and top each bowl with a drizzle of olive oil and a bit of grated Pecorino Romano cheese. Serve with crusty bread.