Garbanzo Bean Soup

Here is a Williams-Sonoma classic that I have made so many times but never got to posting it here. And finally, here we go!

The original recipe ‘ Ceci (italian for chick peas) soup’ is mellow and I added some zing to it and topped it off with a nutty cheese.

1 13 oz can cooked garbanzo beans
2 tbsp butter
1 yellow onion, chopped
3-4 garlic cloves, minced
3 serrano peppers, chopped (This makes the soup spicy, use 1 to make it milder and remove seeds to further mellow it down)
6 fresh sage leaves, chopped
2 large tomatoes, chopped
4 cups vegetarian broth ( I used low sodium broth)
1 fresh rosemary sprig, strip the leaves and discard the stem. Rough chop the leaves.
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

Melt butter in a soup pot over medium-low heat. Add the onion, serrano peppers and garlic and cook, stirring, until the onions are translucent, 4 to 6 minutes. Add the sage and tomatoes and cook, stirring, until the tomatoes are tender, 6 to 8 minutes.

Add the garbanzo beans, salt, broth and rosemary and let it come to a boil. Cover the pot and cook for 25 minutes.

Using a hand blender, puree the soup until smooth and blended.If you don’t have a hand blender, transfer the soup in batches to a regular blender, blend and pour back into the soup pot. Stir in parmesan cheese and cook uncovered for another 5 minutes and serve warm. Garnish with rosemary and more parmesan if you wish.

I am entering this recipe for the Foodie Films Event hosted by Joelen’s Culinary Adventures.

I am also entering this for the “winter treat” event hosted by Recipe Center.