Chickpea, chestnut, pumpkin and rosemary soup
A recipe for soup on All Saints Day
Hello! My name is Rebecca May Johnson, I am a writer and cook and this is my Substack. This newsletter has a recipe for a chickpea, chestnut, pumpkin and rosemary soup that I cooked today on All Saints’ Day in Rome.
Chickpea, chestnut, pumpkin and rosemary soup
I’ve been approaching cooking this soup for a few weeks. At an agriturismo just south of Bologna on the drive to Rome they served a pumpkin, chickpea and porcini soup with chestnuts that was the best dish of the journey. Then I read that pumpkin and chickpea soup is quite typical for All Saints Day when I was investigating the public holiday (mainly to see if there would be anything specific in the bakeries). Then today on All Saints Day we had to buy food despite most things being closed due to our disorganisation – and found two vegetable stalls open in the market, one selling soaked chickpeas and pumpkin, and I remembered the flat we are renting has a pack of vacuum packed chestnuts in a cupboard. There was a box of fresh chestnuts in the market too but I am fatigued at the moment, and was on baby duty today, so time and energy did not permit.
Anyway, the soup was wonderful. Sweet, nutty, and rich but still gentle. We topped with parmesan, and for a vegan version we discussed the idea of using fried breadcrumbs with a little garlic – though sam said he also liked it with no cheese at all. I didn’t weigh the bag of chickpeas from the market so the quantity is a guess. I think around one 400g tin’s worth for 2 people.
Ingredients
200g dried chickpeas soaked overnight minimum 12 hrs, or a 400g tin + its liquid
200g pumpkin peeled and cut into 3mmX1 inchX 1inch slices (thin slices essentially)
100g pack of cooked chestnuts
1 red onion, finely diced
1 rib celery, finely diced
2 garlic cloves, finely diced
1 small dried chilli or a pinch of chilli flakes
olive oil
a sprig of fresh rosemary
To serve:
parmesan or fried breadcrumbs to be vegan
How to make
If using soaked chickpeas: in the afternoon (or the morning if it’s your lunch!) drain the chickpeas and put them in a big pot with 2 litres of water and simmer for 1-2 hours or until tender. Keep the cooking liquid.
Heat 5 tablespoons of olive oil in a wide deep pan, add the onion and celery and a punch of salt and cook until softened but not browned, around 6-8 minutes. Then add the garlic and rosemary and dried chilli. Stir for another two minutes. Then add the pumpkin and stir into the onions, then add the chickpeas and a few ladles of their liquid (or all if from the tin) and the chestnuts. Break up a few of the chestnuts into smaller pieces with a knife. Add enough water so everything is just covered, liquid perhaps 1 centimetre above your ingredients. Simmer for 20 minutes or until the pumpkin is tender. Season with additional salt if desired.
Serve with parmesan or fried breadcrumbs.
For two years I looked at a vacuum pack of chestnuts in my cupboard, and then finally threw it out last week. Very bad timing, reading this recipe. (And I also received a gift of dried porcini from my sister who came to visit.)
I love chestnut everything so I look forward to making this soup. Since I always buy canned chickpeas I would like to know if I am missing the boat by not buying dried chickpeas and soaking them myself? I but dried lentils, split peas, navy beans, etc. Not sure why I don't buy dried chickpeas, except perhaps because it is more unfamiliar. Thank you!