Winter brings with it cold mornings and early dark evenings. For our family, this means plenty of hearty soups. The kind that fills you up through the evenings as you sit on the sofa with blankets watching the build up to Christmas on TV. Well more like the kids wanting every toy on every advert in that order.
This soup brings with it the thick fulfilling consistency needed to fill you up and with a mild kick of chilli warms you too. A recipe is taken from A Soup for Every Day by New Covent Garden Food Co. which I bought last Christmas. This book brings so many ideas to the table it is hard not to resist and make something that everyone will surely enjoy and what’s better than 365 ideas to choose from.
Served with some homemade or sliced bread brings this hearty dish to the table and makes everyone happy.
Moroccan Chickpea and Spinach Soup
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp. Olive Oil
- 3 Medium onions finely chopped
- 2 Garlic cloves crushed
- 1 ½ tsp. Ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp. Chilli powder
- 2 tbsp. Tomato Puree
- 150 g Dried Apricots chopped
- ½ Lemon zest and juice of
- 1 ½ litres Vegetable stock
- 250 g chickpeas tinned
- 200 g Fresh spinach finely shredded
Service
- 150 ml natural yoghurt
Instructions
- Heat the oil over a medium heat add the onions and cook gently for about 5 minutes.
- Add the garlic and spices and cook for a further 1 minute then add the tomato puree and cook for a few more minutes.
- Add the apricots, lemon rind and juice, stock and chickpeas. Cover and simmer gently for about 20 minutes until the chickpeas are tender.
- Remove from the heat and blend until smooth.
- Return to a clean saucepan and then stir in the spinach and cook for a further five minutes until the spinach has wilted.
- Season to taste and serve with a swirl of the natural yoghurt.
Hi Alan, I’d like to make this soup but the recipe doesn’t specify dried or tinned chickpeas. Can you help me out please?
Thanks
Gill
Good evening Gill,
For this recipe, I used tinned chickpeas. You could use dried, but they would require soaking as per the packet instructions.
I have also amended the recipe for further reference to others.
I hope this helps, and you enjoy making this amazing soup.
Alan.
From where do you get two tbs of tomato puree?
Hi Estelle,
Tomato puree can be purchased from any major supermarket. As per the BBC Food website;
“Tomato purée is a thick, red paste or concentrate made from crushed tomato pulp that has been cooked and reduced. It is widely produced and used in Mediterranean countries, where it is added to dishes to give them a bright colour and a pronounced tomato flavour”
I hope this helps with your query and you manage to make and enjoy such a delightful recipe.
I use this Recipe as a sauce for my chicken, served with some couscous. I blend it up and my kids love it. They wouldn’t eat it if they knew what was in it.
What an amazing idea to use as a sauce for your chicken. I shall try this myself.