20 Jan 2012, Posted by admin in Primi piatti,Recipe,soup, 4 Comments. Tagged chickpeas, lentils, soup

Zuppa di cicerchie

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Wild chickpea soup

I don’t know about you, but I hadn’t heard about ‘cicerchie’ until my friend Eloisa handed me a bag as a going to Denmark present. Her father is a farmer, producing various kinds of lentils, peas and beans. These flat, square ones I did not recognize and Eloisa’s translation with the English word ‘pulse’ didn’t ring a bell. Yet she told me how to prepare them, and added that these dried beans are a bit like kidney beans and chickpeas only much nicer. And having tasted them I totally agree.

So if you happen to come by an Italian market, where they still sell ‘cicerchie’, don’t hesitate to buy some. They will keep for ages and form the base of many nutritious and almost free meals for the entire family.

According to Wikipedia ‘cicerchie’ have the latin name ‘Lathyrus Sativus’ and they are also known as  wild chickpeas, grass pea, blue sweet pea, chuckling vetch, Indian pea, almorta, guixa, guaya or khesari

Ingredients
300 g cicerchie
6 dried tomatoes
2 cloves of garlic
2 shallot onions
1 tbsp fennel seeds
Fresh rosemary and parsley
Olive oil

Preparation
Rinse the cicerchie thoroughly and soak for 24 hours.
Drain the beans, put them in a pot and cover with fresh water
Add fennel seeds, rosemary, parsley, garlic cloves, chopped shallots and dried tomatoes in smaller pieces.
Let it boil for about an hour till the peas are soft and tender.
Add salt and pepper to taste
Drizzled with olive oil and serve with bread as a hearty soup.