This is my version of the recipe without using a pressure cooker. (Original recipe here.) Using pre-cooked beans meant the soup cooked in about half the time (30 minutes), but prepping the rest of the ingredients – rather than just tossing them with reckless abandon into the pressure cooker – took quite a while.

You will need:
- 2-3 Tbs olive oil (or a healthy neutral oil such as grapeseed)
- 1 small yellow onion, diced
- 2 stalks celery, thinly sliced
- 2 carrots, thinly sliced into coins
- 3-4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
- 2-3 sprigs fresh rosemary, de-stemmed and minced (if you don’t have fresh, omit this ingredient)
- 1 Tb fresh or 1 tsp dried thyme
- 4 cups filtered water
- 3 1/2 cups (or two cans) cooked chickpeas, drained and rinsed, divided
- 1 cup uncooked ditalini or small elbow macaroni
- one large handful of dark, leafy greens, chopped into bite-sized pieces – kale and swiss chard work well for this recipe
Prep your veggies and herbs. Heat the oil in a dutch oven or large, heavy soup pot over medium heat. When the oil is heated, lower the heat and add your ingredients. Slowly sweat the vegetables and herbs over low heat with the lid slightly ajar for about 20 minutes. You will want them to soften, but not brown. Stir from time to time to make sure they aren’t sticking, adding water as needed.
When your vegetables are nice and soft, add all 4 cups of the water and 1 cup cooked chickpeas. Puree with an immersion blender until smooth. Alternatively, you can add these items to a blender or food processor and puree, then return to your pan.
Bring the soup to a simmer; add remaining chickpeas and dried pasta, bring to a low boil for 3-4 minutes (or whatever half the time recommended to reach al dente is for the pasta you’re using).
Remove from heat and let sit for a few minutes to thicken. Season with salt and pepper, and serve with a drizzle of good olive oil.
In our family, one large sweet potato makes a decent serving size for one person. I almost said it “makes enough,” but who am I kidding – can you ever have enough shoestring fries?


