Chickpea Tomato Soup

I made this back during bid season when I had to work long hours (April and May, proof of how long it's been since I posted here regularly), so I spent some time on the weekends making sure Dan had decent food to eat during the week. This is a recipe that Dan picked out to try, out of a list of things I thought he might like.

Chickpea Tomato Soup
via Orangette

Ingredients:

• 2 15-ounce cans chickpeas
• 3 T olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled and coarsely chopped
• 2 3-inch sprigs fresh rosemary, needles removed from stem and finely chopped
• 2 cans diced tomatoes, one 28-ounce and one 14.5-ounce
• pinch of sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• 4 cups vegetable stock

Directions:

1. Drain the canned chickpeas in a colander, and rinse them well.
2. Warm the olive oil in a large soup pot over medium-low heat, and add the garlic and rosemary. Cook for a minute or two, and then add the tomatoes, sugar, salt, a few grinds of pepper, roughly half of the chickpeas, and the stock. Bring to a boil over high heat; then reduce the heat to low and simmer, partially covered, for 20 minutes.
3. Remove the soup from the heat to purée. If using an immersion blender, purée the soup directly in the pot. Otherwise, wait a few minutes, until the soup cools; then purée it in batches in a blender or food processor and return it to the pot. Add the remaining chickpeas, and warm the soup over medium heat. Serve warm.

Comments & Modifications:

• I didn't have fresh rosemary at the moment, so I substituted dried rosemary.
  

Verdict: I didn't get to try this, but Dan said it tasted pretty much like tomato sauce with chickpeas in it. He ate it, but didn't really enjoy it.