Chickpea and Chestnut soups from the Abruzzo

From Cosa Bolle in Pentola, my free newsletter:
Stepping down from the soap box and moving towards food, Tom recently wrote to ask for a chestnut and chickpea soup from L'Acquila, in the Abruzzo. I haven't come across it, but I have found recipes for both chestnut and chickpea soup in Alessandro Molinari Pradelli's La Cucina Abruzzese.

To make chestnut soup for six you'll need:

• 1 1/8 pounds (500 g) cleaned collard greens
• 3 carrots
• 3 onions
• 1 1/3 pounds (600 g) peeled chestnuts
• 5 peeled potatoes
• Salt and pepper
• Olive oil
• Slices of bread, either toasted or fried in unsalted butter

Set the chestnuts to soak the night before. The next day, boil them together with the potatoes, carrots, collard greens, and onions (add the potatoes and carrots with the chestnuts, then the onions, and finally the collard greens, which will cook more quickly the first chestnuts and vegetables should be fork tender). Drain the vegetables and put them through a blender or food mill to obtain a smooth cream. Check seasoning and serve the cream over slices of toasted bread, sprinkling all with a little olive oil.

To make chickpea soup for six, you'll need:

• 1 1/8 pounds (500 g) chickpeas
• 5 ounces (125 g) bread crumbs, sautéed until golden in olive oil
• A bay leaf
• A clove of garlic
• Olive oil
• Salt
• A pinch of sodium bicarbonate (optional)

Soak the chickpeas overnight in lightly salted water, adding a pinch of sodium bicarbonate if you want -- it hastens the cooking of the chickpeas, but leaves an aftertaste many find offputting.

Drain the beans and put them in a pot with fresh water to cover by a palmspan, a little salt, the bay leaf, the clove of garlic, and a little olive oil. Cover and simmer for at least two hours, or until the chickpeas are soft.

A few minutes before serving the soup, stir in the bread crumbs and heat them through. Serve, with, if you want, a pepper grinder.

Were I to undertake chestnut and chickpea soup, I'd cook chickpeas per the second recipe, and add them whole to the first.

A printer-friendly version of this recipe.
About chestnuts.
Classic Italian Recipes
Classic Italian Recipes

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