Spanish chickpea soup, farkashert

One of the nice things about cooking dried beans is that you can freeze them in the process, after soaking or after cooking, so it is easy to have some to add to a dish.  I keep beans in process in the freezer in zip-loc bags or plastic containers along with their soaking or cooking water which actually adds flavor rather than just slime and salt to the final product. The important thing, of course, is to label them so that you know at which stage they were frozen.

I was feeling under the weather today, and noticed that we had some frozen cooked chickpeas in the freezer, as well as some semi-dried turkey kubano sausages, and I was in the mood for a soup. This kosher version of Spanish chickpea and chorizo soup was the result.  I find the turkey sausages a good substitute for the chorizo, and I accentuate the smokiness by using smoked Spanish paprika and fire-roasted tomatoes. Then again, maybe it is just too long since I have had the real thing.  The quantities are very approximate and little more of this or a little less of that according to you taste won't hurt anyone. The amounts below make for a rather soupy soup.  A diced potato or turnip added 10 minutes before the end would be a nice addition as well.  It looks a lot nicer than the picture here, which actually looks like hubagrits soup with which it has little in common, but I though I should post a picture because my blog lacks visuals.  Here is how you do it:



Spanish chickpea soup 

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 6 links semi-dried turkey kubano sausages (about 3 ounces)
• 1/2 cup chopped onion or shallot
• 5 cloves sliced garlic
• 1 heaping tablespoon smoked Spanish paprika
• 14 ounce can diced or crushed tomatoes (I use Muir Glen fire-roasted -- the smoky flavor is particularly important here)
• 2 cups chicken broth (while homemade is nice, I used boxed Manischewitz; if you must, 2 use cups water and a bouillon cube or 2 teaspoons Osem powder)
• 2 cups frozen cooked chickpeas with their liquid (if you must, you can substitute a 19 ounce can, drained and rinsed)
• Pepper and salt

Method

1. Dice 2 of the sausages fine and saute in olive oil in a saucepan on medium heat until brown.
2. Add the onion or shallot and saute until soft.  Add the garlic and saute a minute or to longer.
3. Turn heat to low and stir in the paprika and a few grindings of black pepper if you want.  Saute another minute.
4. Add the tomatoes, turn the heat to high, and cook about 10 minutes until it thickens into a sauce.
5. Add the broth and the remain links, whole but pricked with a fork and bring to the boil. Turn heat down and simmer for 10 minutes.  
6. Add the chickpeas and their liquid if using (they will defrost in the soup), bring back to the boil, turn heat down, cover and simmer on low for 20 minutes.  \
7. Remove the whole sausages, slice, and return to the soup.  Correct for salt and pepper.  (I don't salt until the end since the broth and sausages generally have salt.)
8. Serves 4 as an appetizer or two as a main course.