FoodB

Jenn and I are big fans of Iron Chef: America. Our favorite chefs on the show are Masaharu Morimoto and Mario Batali. Morimoto is just amazing to watch because he does things that I don't see anyone else do on the show and Batali is just a character. We have never made anything from either chef and Jenn decided to take on a Batali recipe. Oddly enough she found this chickpea recipe a few weeks after we watched "Battle Chickpeas" on the afore mentioned Iron Chef. Batali kept referring to them as ceci beans which made me chuckle and when Jenn was making this soup, I must have repeated it about 756 times.

Chickpea Soup: Minestra se Ceci

4 1/2 cups chickpeas
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
2 Spanish onions
2 cloves garlic, sliced thin, plus 1 clove
2 ripe tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and chopped
12 (1-inch thick) slices Italian peasant bread
1 can anchovies in salt, deboned and rinsed
1/4 cup chopped parsley leaves

1. Place the chickpeas in a heavy-bottomed pot and just cover with cold water. Add the baking soda and cover. Leave the chickpeas to soak overnight.
2. When they are ready to be used, transfer the chickpeas and the soaking water to a large saucepan. Salt, to taste, and cook over a medium flame until tender.
3. Cut the onion in 1/2 through the root and slice them into half moons, each 1/8-inch thick.
4. In a second large saucepan, heat the 1/4 cup of olive oil over medium heat. Add the onions and cook until soft and golden brown.
5. Add the garlic, tomatoes, chili flakes, and salt and pepper, to taste.
6. Add the chickpeas and water and leave to simmer until the flavors have melded, for at least 30 minutes and up to 60 minutes.
7. Before serving, chop the anchovies and add the parsley. Toast the bread slices, rub surface with the remaining garlic clove and spread on the anchovy paste. Drizzle them with olive oil and serve with the soup.

Chefs Note: Instead of using dried beans, I used canned chickpeas (3 cans did it) and rinsed them well before putting them in the pot and covered it with water. I also added some basil and parsley to the broth for more flavor.

Pretty decent soup. I have to say that it was a lot better the next day for lunch. The first time I had it, I had to add some pepper to the broth to give it some more flavor. The next day though, it was really rich and the beans seemed to give up a lot of flavor. Maybe this was what was lost by using canned beans.

On another note, the recipe called for bread with an anchovy paste spread. Jenn made this and she tried it out. She said it was pretty nasty so unless you really enjoy anchovies, I would just do plain bread slices. It smelled pretty bad to me so I waited on Jenn's reaction before taking that plunge myself. Glad I did because she looked like someone spat on her food after trying it.

I just can't help it Jenn.

Ceci beans.

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