Roasted Tomato Basil Soup With Chickpeas
May 25, 2014, Updated Feb 21, 2018
Roasted tomato basil soup with added chickpeas - makes a healthy and delicious dinner.
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Tomato soup is probably world’s most famous soup, isn’t it? It is one soup which is always on the menu wherever you go and people who won’t drink soup otherwise, will somehow drink tomato soup. My younger brother dislikes soups a lot but if there’s tomato soup he will drink it. I guess there’s some magic in it no?
So the other day I thought of making tomato basil soup for dinner. But only tomatoes didn’t sound nutritious enough so I also added chickpeas to it. The addition of chickpeas makes it a complete meal in itself, almost perfect for dinner. I used raw chickpeas because that’s what I always use but I know people in US usually use canned chickpeas. To use dried chickpeas, soak them in water overnight and then pressure cook then for 1-2 whistles and them simmer on medium flame for 10-15 minutes. Indians can’t survive without pressure cooker, it makes cooking so easy really. For those who don’t have pressure cooker, you can either use canned chickpeas or soak the chickpeas overnight and then cook them in pot full of water for 1 hour or till they soften up.
The chickpeas when soaked more than double in size. That’s why the recipe calls for 1/2 cup raw chickpeas or 1.25 cups canned chickpeas because the raw ones on soaking ultimately are around 1.25 cups.
Rather than blending the tomatoes as such, I first baked them with onions and garlic in the oven. It gave a really nice roasted flavor to the soup and made it delicious. This soup is perfect for dinner, serve it with some homemade bread. I had mine with homemade focaccia and it was just wonderful.
Method
In a bowl mix together tomatoes, onions, garlic [smash them with a knife], salt & pepper. Add in the olive oil and make sure it’s all well coated. Prepare a baking tray by spraying it with non-stick cooking spray. Dump the mixture on the baking tray and put it in the oven.
Let it cook for around 30-35 minutes in the oven at 350 F degrees or till everything is soft and nice.
Once it’s done, take out the tray from the oven and let the mixture cool a bit. Transfer everything to a blender, add sliced basil leaves and blend till smooth. Heat 1 tsp of butter or oil in a pan. Once hot, add the bay leaves and saute for a minute. Add in the tomato paste and mix.
At this point you can add water if you want a thinner consistency. I did add around 1 cup of water but it’s totally up to you. Next add in the chickpeas and mix and finally add the salt, white pepper powder and give it a final stir.
Serve hot with homemade bread.
* You can add cream to this tomato basil soup. Usually the one we get in restaurants does have cream in it, so it’s totally up to you.
Roasted Tomato Basil Soup With Chickpeas
Ingredients
- 5 tomatoes cut into halves
- 3-4 garlic cloves
- 1 onion small, quartered
- 1/3 cup fresh basil leaves chopped + more to garnish
- 1/2 cup chickpeas raw or 1.25 cups canned chickpeas
- 1.5 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 bay leaves
- ½ teaspoon sugar
- white pepper powder to taste
- salt to taste
- black pepper to taste
- 1-2 cups water or as required
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 F degrees.
- Prepare a baking tray by spraying it with non-stick spray. Set aside.
- In a bowl mix together tomatoes, onions, garlic [smash them with a knife], salt & pepper.
- Add in the olive oil and make sure it's all well coated.
- Dump the mixture on the baking tray and put it in the oven.
- Let it cook for around 30-35 minutes in the oven at 350 F degrees or till everything is soft and nice.
- Take it out from the oven and let it cool down a bit.
- Transfer everything to a blender, add sliced basil leaves and blend till smooth.
- Heat 1 tsp of butter or oil in a pan. Once hot, add the bay leaves and saute for a minute. Add in the blended tomato paste and mix.
- Add water if required at this point for a thinner soup
- Next add in the chickpeas and mix and finally add the salt, white pepper powder and give it a final stir.
- Serve hot and garnish with some basil leaves.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Roasted Tomato Basil Soup with Chickpeas
