Sweet potato and chickpea soup

 
I really love this soup. This is my second time around the block with it and I still can't believe how easy and tasty it is.

You literally throw all the ingredients in the pot and boil for a bit. The recipe calls for canned chickpeas but I used dried. They take way more effort but I think they taste nicer. Plus they're dirt cheap, easier to store than tin cans and a doctor once told me they are less likely to make you gassy. Sounds good, eh?

 To prepare dried beans, soak them for 12 hours in cold water (overnight works well). Change the water a few times while they soak. (I usually put beans in to soak in the afternoon, change the water every few hours as I'm popping in and out of the kitchen and then leave them to soak overnight.) When you're ready to boil the beans, drain the water, throw them in a pot with more fresh cold water, bring to the boil and then boil rapidly for 10 minutes, skimming off any foam that's created (I love doing this bit - it's very satisfying, hence my photo below where the middle bowl is skimmed foam... scum to some). If you're going to use the cooking water in your recipe (good for soups!), after 10 minutes of rapid boiling, drain and cover with at least an inch of water (fresh and cold, you guessed it!), bring to the boil, lower the heat and simmer for at least an hour. Or you can choose to just lower the heat and simmer.

Different beans require different cooking times - chickpeas can take up to 2 hours. Once beans are cooked though, you can drain off the water (or keep it to top up stock in a soup) and keep them in the fridge until you're ready to use - I'd do this quite quickly though so they don't spoil.

I was quite sure why you needed to do the 10 minutes of rapid boiling so I googled it... and found this aptly named guide which has some really good tips about cooking beans, even if you're not particularly worried about flatulence (great word, flatulence).

Anyway - on to the recipe! This comes to you courtesy of the October 2011 Sainsbury's Magazine

Sweet potato and chickpea soup
Sainsbury's says: 'Sweet potatoes give a lovely smooth texture to soups.'

Prep 15 mins, Total time 35 mins, Serves 6

750g sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped (this is about 2 largeish sweet potatoes)
1 onion, chopped
2 tsp grated root ginger (do use fresh instead of dried)
1 red chilli, deseeded and chopped (I have a little pot of frozen red chillis - very helpful)
1 clove garlic, chopped
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 litre veggie stock
1 x 410g tin chickpeas, drained and rinsed (or 3/4 cup dried, soaked and cooked)
handful of flat-leaf parsley to garnish

1 Put the sweet potato, onion, ginger, chilli, garlic and cumin in a large pan. Pour in the stock, cover and bring to a boil. Simmer for about 10 minutes until the sweet potato is almost tender. Add the chickpeas and simmer for a further 5 minutes. (I think it takes longer than this to get sweet potato tender. And as I'd already been cooking the chickpeas, I just tossed everything together and simmered for awhile.)

 2 Puree with a hand-held electric blender or in a liquidiser until smooth. Add a little more stock or water if it's too thick. Warm through, check the seasoning and finish with freshly ground black pepper and a few parsley leaves to serve.

Can't beat a soup with two steps! Enjoy...