Creamy Farro And Chickpea Soup

• 3/4 cup dried chickpeas, soaked in water overnight
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 2 imported bay leaves
• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus more for garnish
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1 tablespoon chopped prosciutto
• 1 tablespoon minced celery
• 3/4 cup farro or hulled barley, rinsed, then soaked in water overnight
• 1 quart chicken broth
• 1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram
• 2 pinches freshly grated nutmeg
• Kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Freshly chopped flatleaf parsley, for garnish

1. Drain chickpeas, and place in a medium earthenware pan or saucepan.
2. Cover with plenty of cold water, and bring to a boil.
3. Add sea salt and bay leaves.
4. Reduce heat, and cook, covered, until very soft, about 1 1/2 hours.
5. Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, heat olive oil and gently cook onion, prosciutto and celery for 4 to 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until they are soft but not brown.
6. Drain farro, and add it along with the chicken broth, marjoram and nutmeg to the onion mixture.
7. Cook, partially covered, for about 1 hour.
8. Drain chickpeas, reserving the cooking liquid.
9. Discard bay leaves.
10. In a food processor, puree chickpeas with 1 cup of the reserved liquid.
11. Add pureed chickpeas to the farro mixture; if necessary, add more of the cooking liquid from the chickpeas to achieve the consistency of a creamy soup.
12. Adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper.
13. Wait 10 minutes before serving, and sprinkle each portion with chopped parsley and a drizzle of olive oil.

dried chickpeas, salt, bay leaves, extra virgin olive oil, onion, celery, barley, chicken broth, marjoram, nutmeg, kosher salt, freshly ground black pepper, parsley

Taken from cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/8148 (may not work)