Chickpea and Fennel Soup Recipe - Minestra di Ceci e Finocchi

This chickpea and fennel soup recipe is Sardinian, and calls for wild fennel. Though it's the progenitor of bulb fennel, wild fennel only has fronds. If you cannot find it, I would use the leafy parts of the fronds of bulb fennel (you may have to ask your grocer to set them aside for you), and perhaps add a tablespoon or so of fennel seeds. To serve 6:

Prep Time: 24 hours, 30 minutes

Cook Time: 2 hours

Ingredients:

• 1 pound (400 g) chickpeas
• 1/2 pound (200 g) ditalini or other small tubular pasta
• A bunch of wild fennel
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• An onion, minced
• 1/2 pound blanched, peeled, seeded chopped, drained and blended tomatoes
• Salt and pepper

Preparation:

Soak the chickpeas for at least 24 hours, or more if you have the time. Rinse them well, picking through them to remove stray stones, rub them between your fingers to eliminate seed skins, and set them to cook in 1 1/2 quarts of lightly salted water.

While they're cooking, pick over and clean the fennel fronds, and cut them at least into thirds. When the chickpeas are half done (1 1/2 hours or so) add the fennel to the pot.

Next, sauté the minced onion in the olive oil, and when it turns golden, add the blended tomatoes to it. Check seasoning and continue cooking until the moisture is almost all evaporated.

By this point the chickpeas should be soft. Stir the tomato sauce into the chickpeas, add the pasta, and cook, stirring to keep the pasta from sticking, until it is done. Serve hot or cold as you prefer.

Yield: 6 servings chickpea and fennel soup.

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