approximately ½ - 1 cup vegetable broth (you can use oilve oil if you like but I think it is tasty with vegetable broth without all that saturated fat - you could also do half and half)
handful of shredded basil leaves to serve (optional)
Instructions
Soup
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Place 2 tbsp olive oil in a large saucepan and heat. Add the onion, fennel, carrot and celery and saute to soften, stirring occasionally, for approximately 5 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste and stir as you cook for one minute. Add the wine and let it bubble away for a minute or two.
Next, add the canned tomatoes with their juices, the herbs, sugar, vegetable stock and some salt and pper. Bring to boil, then cover and leave to simmer gently for about 25 minutes.
While you wait, break the bread into rough chunks and toss with 2 tbsp of olive oil and some salt and scatter in a roasting pan. Bake for about 10 minutes, or until thoroughly dry and a little browned. Remove from the oven and set aside.
About 10 minutes before you want to serve the soup, place half the chickpeas in a bowl and crush them a little with a potato masher. Add them to the soup with the remaining whole chickpeas and let simmer for 5 minutes. Next add the toasted bread, stir well and cook for another 5 minutes. Taste the soup and adjust seasonings.
Ladle the hot soup into bowls. Spoon some pesto in the center. Drizzle with olive oil and finish with a generous amount of freshly shredded basil, if you like. The olive oil and basil are optional.
Basil Pesto
Place the basil, parsley, pine nuts, garlic cloves, salt & pepper and ½ cup vegetable broth in food processor and process to a paste. Add more vegetable broth (or olive oil if using) and pulse until you get a runny pesto. Pour into a bowl.
Recipe by Ordinary Vegan at https://ordinaryvegan.net/chickpeasoup/