The last of the winter dishes... surely!

Today was a cold spring day here in Melbourne, and was definitely chilly enough to justify making a wintry soup, especially since I was cooking it for a friend recovering from illness - soup is the most restorative dish I can think of.  I am currently seeking out dishes that include the vegetables I've recently planted in my vege garden (in anticipation of the oversupply that will occur once it is time to harvest them!), so tonight's recipe includes lots of silverbeet.  It will be several weeks until my little rainbow silverbeet plants are ready, but I want to be ready so I can use it all.

Chickpea and Silverbeet Soup

Serves 4

2 cans of chickpeas
3 tablespoons of olive oil plus extra to serve
Juice of half a lemon
1 - 2 teaspoons of dried red chillis
5 cloves of garlic, crushed with the back of a knife and roughly chopped
3 sprigs of rosemary
2 tins of chopped tomatoes
Salt and pepper
1 litre of chicken stock (I use vegetarian "chicken" stock)
300g of silverbeet (1 bunch)
1/2 cup of grated parmesan or pecorino
Crusty bread

1. Drain the chickpeas and toss with one tablespoon of olive oil and the lemon juice.

2. Gently heat two tablespoons of olive oil in a stockpot, add the garlic, chilli and rosemary, and cook for a minute or so until fragrant.  Add the tomatoes and a good pinch of salt; bring to the boil, then cover and simmer for twenty minutes.

3. Add the stock and simmer for another ten minutes, and then add the chickpeas and simmer for forty minutes.

4.  Cut the silverbeet leaves from the stalk.  Trim the stalks into one centimetre chunks, and cut the larger leaves in half.  When the soup is almost ready, bring a pan of salted water to the boil; add the stalks and cook for two minutes, add the leaves and cook for another minute, and then drain.

5. Stir the parmesan or pecorino into the soup, then the silverbeet and a drizzle of olive oil.  Season as needed.

6. Serve with slices of bread that can be broken into chunks and added to the soup.