I caught this recipe on TV on Sunday as a make-ahead with few steps and many servings.  As I'm alone in the house and busy about 12 hours a day Monday to Thursday, this sounded like a fantastic idea.


Dave Lieberman walked me through a Moroccan spiced chickpea soup which would be enough to serve eight.  I two-thirded the recipe and got four servings from it.  It's lovely served with couscous, a.k.a. the easiest side starch ever created.


In the end, it was hearty and reheated like a charm.  I found the flavors too simplistic, though.  I liked that the chickpeas picked up the salt and the richness of the broth; you could taste that in every pea.  But I wish there'd been more depth; maybe adding more of the three spices would help next time.


I used fresh tomatoes (as I had tons) rather than canned; don't know if that made a difference in the taste either as mine were less juicy and uncooked.

Moroccan Spiced Chickpea Soup

by Dave Lieberman for Food Network

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for garnish
• 1 large onion, medium diced
• 6 to 8 cloves garlic, pressed
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 heaping teaspoon sweet paprika
• 1 (14.5-ounce) can chopped tomatoes
• 3 (15-ounce) cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed well
• 1 quart vegetable broth or reduced-sodium chicken broth
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• Kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1 (5-ounce) package pre-washed baby spinach

Directions

Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic and saute until the onions begin to turn translucent; lower heat if browning starts to occur. Add spices and saute a minute or so. Add tomatoes, chickpeas, broth, and sugar. Season with a couple pinches of salt and 10 grinds fresh pepper. Stir well. Chickpeas should be just covered with liquid. If level is shy, add some water so the chickpeas are just covered.

Bring to a simmer, then lower heat to low and gently simmer for 45 minutes.

Remove soup from heat. Use a potato masher to mash up some of the chickpeas right in the pot. Stir in the spinach and let heat through until wilted, just a couple minutes.

Season again, to taste, with salt and pepper.

Serve soup, drizzled lightly with extra-virgin olive oil, if desired.