Note: I prepared this dish when some weeks ago, when the weather was still cold, but soon it turned warmer and I have been waiting since then to post it. It looks that Spring wants to stay, so I post it as I wrote it then. You should make this stew even if it’s not very cold, it’s really delicious.
This chickpea soup has got to be the best dish for a chilly winter evening. But the truth is that in my house we have always eaten this kind of the dishes all year round, regardless of temperature and seasons. In fact, my siblings and I were so pleased when we were on the beach and our mother pulled out a giant thermos bottle filled with our stew for lunch, usually black beans, lentils or chickpeas. We sat in a row, and she went round giving us scoops one by one. Years later, I became aware that most people banished stews and soups of their summer diet, don’t know quite why I did the same, but the truth is I love eating a warm stew, even in August.
This stew is a typical dish from southern Spain, from Andalucía, called Puchero, but the version I’m bringing today is the cheat one, made with packed both and ready cooked chickpeas. It’s actually a little sacrilege to prepare this way, but I give you this recipe for two reasons:
1. It is perfect if you are as I was last day I prepared it, with this horrible flu and no energy for cooking.
2. It is so easy you might go ahead an prepare it, and then you’ll want to eat it again and again. By that time, I will have already posted an entry with the authentic recipe, my Uncle Antoñin’s, and if you do that recipe, you’ll simply love it.
This soup has so many advantages, kids love it, just as it is or grind, it is very healthy, can be frozen, and also there are lots of dishes you can prepare out of the leftovers: croquettes, potato salad, ropa vieja…although all these I’ll tell you whenever I post the original recipe.
For now just one more thing, serve with rice or noodles and a mint leaf .
- 2 cans cooked chickpeas, washed and rinsed, about 400g drained.
- 1 whole chicken breast (use 2 if you want to serve it as a single dish meal)
- 2 cartons of chicken broth – choose without additives –
- 2 stalks celery, peel the threads and cut into slices
- 3 carrots, peeled and sliced
- 1 or 2 potatoes, peeled and cut into large chunks
- 1 peeled turnip and coarsely chopped (optional)
- fresh mint
- In a saucepan put the broth and when it starts to boil, toss the vegetables.
- After 15-20 minutes add the chicken and chickpeas. Let cook until vegetables are tender – especially carrots, which is the hardest-. Give a final boil over high heat for 5 minutes and salt to taste .
- Serve with mint leaves and noodles or white rice.