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
- Drain chickpeas, and place in a medium earthenware pan or saucepan.
- Cover with plenty of cold water, and bring to a boil.
- Add sea salt and bay leaves.
- Reduce heat, and cook, covered, until very soft, about 1 1/2 hours.
- 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.
- Drain farro, and add it along with the chicken broth, marjoram and nutmeg to the onion mixture.
- Cook, partially covered, for about 1 hour.
- Drain chickpeas, reserving the cooking liquid.
- Discard bay leaves.
- In a food processor, puree chickpeas with 1 cup of the reserved liquid.
- 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.
- Adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper.
- 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)