Tomato and Chickpea Soup

This rich and savoury soup is built by simmering a tomato-y broth with sausages, rosemary and garlic. Chickpeas and pasta get added for body, balancing every bite to keep you full and satisfied on a cold winter day. 

Equipment

Here's everything you need to make my tomato and chickpea soup at home: 

• large pot or dutch oven
• chef's knife
• cutting board
• medim bowl
• cheese grater
• strainer

You can find the full ingredients list and instructions below! 

Cooking Tips

1.  Brown your sausages. Although not completely necessary to make this recipe delicious, it's an easy way to build flavour into the soup, and makes the sausages themselves a little more appealing to look at. 
2.  Buying canned tomatoes is the best way to eat them in the winter, when they're out of season. Look for whole, peeled tomatoes and a product with a short ingredients list (my favourites just have salt and tomatoes!), for the best taste and quality.  
3. Use homemade chicken broth if you can, but store bought will work in a pinch. This no-fuss chicken broth recipe is easy and cost effective. 
4.  If you don't have a parmesan rind to throw in the broth while it simmers, mix a bit of grated cheese into the soup before portioning it out into bowls. Then, finish it with more grated cheese before serving. 

Tomato and Chickpea Soup

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Prep Time 5 minutes mins

Cook Time 35 minutes mins

Servings: 4

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

  

• 4 hot Italian sausages about 500g
• 4 garlic cloves sliced
• 2 sprigs of rosemary stems discarded and leaves roughly chopped
• 1 796 mL can peeled, whole tomatoes
• 900 mL chicken broth about 4 cups
• 1 parmesan rind plus 1 cup grated parmesan for serving
• 1 796mL can chickpeas drained and rinsed
• 200 g pasta I'm using calamarata
• ½ cup grated parmesan
• salt I'm using Diamond Crystal Kosher
• cracked black pepper

Method

 

1. Transfer 1 can peeled, whole tomatoes (and their juices) to a medium bowl. Using your hands, crush the tomatoes into smaller, bite-sized pieces. Fill the can ⅓ of the way with water, swoosh it around, and add it to the tomatoes — we don't want to waste any of that gorgeous tomato-y liquid! Set that aside while you peel and slice 4 garlic cloves and roughly chop the rosemary leaves from 2 sprigs.
2. Heat a large pot, or dutch oven, on medium-high. Add sausages and cook until brown on one side, about 2-3 minutes. Flip and repeat. Once the sausages are browned on both sides, reduce heat to low and carefully cut a length-wise slit in each. Push to one side of the pot. To the other side, add sliced garlic and chopped rosemary. Increase heat to medium and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the crushed tomatoes to the pot, along with 900mL chicken broth and 1 parmesan rind. Bring to a simmer and let cook like this for 20 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, back in the empty bowl, add your dry pasta and cover with cold water. Give it a quick toss then let sit, occasionally tossing, while the broth simmers. This step is optional, see note for details.
4. After 20 minutes of simmering, the broth should be rich and savoury, packed with great rosemary flavour. Add 1 can chickpeas and the drained pasta. Bring to a gentle boil and cook until the pasta is slightly under al dente, about 10 minutes. Season with 1 teaspoon salt and a few cracks of black pepper. Taste and adjust seasoning until the soup is delicious.
5. Remove the parmesan rind and mix in ½ cup grated parmesan. Serve with more parmesan, as desired and fresh-cracked black pepper.

Notes

Soaking the pasta before cooking...

...is optional, but will prevent the noodles from getting mushy after sitting in the broth, which is a great idea if you plan on having leftovers. If you're pressed for time, feel free to skip the long-simmer and pasta soak — instead, bring the pot to a gentle boil, add the pasta and chickpeas, and cook until al dente, about 12-15  minutes.