Chickpea, tomato and green chilli soup with very optional chorizo

I’ve called this recipe chickpea, tomato and green chilli soup with very optional chorizo and that’s because it is! The chorizo is fried until crispy and is more of a garnish than an actual ingredient in the soup making it suitable for vegetarians and meat eaters alike. If you wish to skip the chorizo all together and like your soup with a bit of heat maybe just add a pinch of chilli flakes when adding the rest of the spices or even a drizzle of chilli oil at the end. I have slightly adapted this recipe from one found in a very old delicious magazine, month and year not known as it has long gone in the recycling.

Ingredients

2 tbsp olive oil
2 white onion, finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 long green chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp ground corinder
1 tsp smoked paprika
3 x 400gm cans tomatoes
4 x 400gm cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1.25 litres vegetable (or chicken stock if you prefer and aren’t feeding vegetarians)
I chorizo (optional!), diced
coriander or herb of choice
lime or lemon to serve

Those with eagle eyes have probably noticed I forgot to put the olive oil, coriander and lime/lemon in the picture as well as the fact I couldn’t get white onions so I have used one brown and one salad onion.

Heat the olive oil in a very large, heavy-based pan over a medium low heat. Add the onions and cook, stirring, for 6-8 minutes, until soft.

Add the garlic, chilli, cumin, coriander and paprika and cook, stirring for 1 minute or until fragrant.

Stir in the tomatoes, chickpeas and stock. Trying not to cover you and the splash back like I did!!

Cover and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat to low, partially cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 25 minutes, until reduced slightly. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool slightly.

Either transfer half the soup to a blender and process until smooth and then add back to pan or use a stick blender to slightly blend the whole soup. You don’t want it smooth here, you are looking for about half whole chickpeas half processed. Season to taste.

Optional

Fry the chorizo over a medium heat for 3-4 minutes, until crisp.

Ladle the soup into bowls, sprinkle with the coriander, scatter with the chorizo (if using) you can also drizzle a bit of the chorizo oil if you’re not afraid of fat (fat is flavour as they say) and serve with lime or lemon, bread is also optional..