There are few things that hit the spot quite like potato or bean soup made with ham, sausage, or another salty meat. Recently, my wife made hammy chickpea soup–I assume it was from this Bon Apetit recipe–and it was remarkably similar to a ham-and-potato soup that is perfectly nourishing and perfectly comforting at the end of a cold day. The chickpeas have a texture and flavor profile very similar to white potatoes but according to the internet appears to have a nutritional edge in terms of its per-calorie distribution of macronutrients. Note, though, that this is per calorie, so since chickpeas are pretty calorific compared to russet potatoes, 100 grams of chickpeas will deliver more carbs than potatoes. They will also deliver more fat and protein plus the smug satisfaction that comes with feeling like you’re making the healthier choice.
While I’m certainly not a connoisseur, I like a good hot sauce. My favorite is the original fermented hot sauce from Hosta Hill in Pittsfield, MA, but this soup goes especially well with plain old Tabasco sauce. Bon Apetit recommends cooking the chickpeas dry, but I’m sure canned chickpeas will work reasonably well. You can get either dry or canned chickpeas in bulk from Amazon. As soups like this tend to do, this pairs very well with bread and crackers. When we had it for dinner, we had fresh bread. When I reheated it for lunch a few days later, I had it with Firehook Garlic Thyme crackers. Very fancy.
