Shuga Mommas: Tomato and Chickpea Soup with Fresh Basil Pesto

My husband is an avid runner. He’s also very disciplined about how he fuels his body; because of this, we try to eat very healthy in our home (and by we, I mean him) :). As I’m designated head chef in our home, he occasionally sends me recipe suggestions of different things to try so we aren’t eating the same things over and over and over.

Recently, he sent me a link for a tomato based soup with chickpeas, with a jarred pesto topping. To be honest, I thought it sounded a bit bland (not to mention a bit gross, given my love/hate relationship with pesto), and since I was missing several of the ingredients the recipe called for, I decided to switch the recipe around a bit to fit what was in my cupboard.

The result? AH-MAZING. Seriously, it will go on heavy rotation in our home this autumn and winter. It’s vegetarian, easy and inexpensive to make, freezes well, and tastes great. So, if you’re looking for another yummy soup packed with protein and fiber, that fits with a graduate budget, then this is your soup.

TOMATO SOUP WITH CHICKPEAS

Ingredients

• 2 14oz cans of chopped tomatoes
• 1 14oz can of chickpeas
• 1 TBSP of olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, mince
• 1 onion, minced
• 1 red jalapeno, minced (I wanted a bit of spice in mine, so I added the seeds, but you can adjust to your desired level of spice)
• 1/2 cup water
• salt/pepper/sugar to taste

Directions

In a soup pot, sauté garlic, onion, and jalapeno in olive oil until soft. Add both cans of chopped tomatoes and water, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer, adding a bit of salt, pepper, and sugar to your desired taste. Add chickpeas, and cook for an additional 10-15 minutes. If you prefer, you can puree this soup with a blender, or leave as is.

We paired the soup with warm French baguettes spread with olive oil and fresh basil pesto. I tend to use this recipe for fresh basil pesto, reducing the garlic to 2 cloves instead of 3 cloves. (I like garlic, but I’ve found this amount almost overpowers the pesto). You can use the pesto as a soup topping as well.

Enjoy!

~Mandy