Soup

Sunday I went to see a hermit and didn't even have to climb a mountain or peer inside a cave. She lives in a -- well, seeing that she is a hermit, maybe that detail should remain untold. Let's just say she lives nearby.

She's laid up, and I took her some soup. She looked like a cheerful pixie, with red hair and glasses. She was in a hospital bed, reading a book propped on her knees. Soon she explained that her job involves lots of travel and meeting people.

"But my calling is to be a hermit," she told me, chuckling at how fate and an auto accident abruptly provided the kind of simplicity she'd craved.

Anyway, she loved the soup, and so might you. It's my variation of La Soupe Aux Pois Chiches from On Rue Tatin by Susan Herrmann Loomis.

Chickpea Soup

1 pound chickpeas

1 large onion, cut in four

4 whole cloves

5 T. extra-virgin olive oil

3 quarts water

4 bay leaves

parsley

thyme

salt

1 lb. spinach

Rinse chickpeas and sort for stones (I found one, once.)

Cover them with water two inches above.

Soak overnight.

Next day, drain.

Mince 3/4 large onion and saute in 1 T. olive oil. Cook over low heat until soft, 10-15 minutes. Add chickpeas and roll them around in the oil. Cook for a minute. Add 3 quarts water, the herbs, and the remaining quarter of an onion, which you have pierced with four cloves. Simmer for an hour, stirring occasionally. Add 1 tsp. salt. Stir again and cook for another hour, or until the beans are soft. If the water goes away, add more.

Fish out the sprigs of parsley and the bay leaves and the thyme. (You could also tie them together in a cheesecloth bag at the beginning, but I never do.) If there's a lot of liquid, pour some off, but don't throw it out yet. I just dip in with a large glass measuring cup. If you have a lot of liquid you will have a runny soup.

Mush the beans with an immersion blender, leaving some of them whole for texture interest. If you don't have an immersion blender, get one! Otherwise, use a big blender, but that's trouble. Add more liquid if you like. Salt to taste. (I always add another teaspoon.)

Now add the spinach and just stir it around until it's wilted. Serve the soup with additional olive oil drizzled on top.

This is good with olive oil and garlic croutons.