I thought chick peas were for humus – not Italian cooking, but I was wrong!   Sometimes I feel like there is so much I have to learn about Italian cooking and I

just don’t know how I ever will!   I first heard of chick peas being used for pasta, as in chick pea flour.   I haven’t tried this yet, but will plan on it, if not for curiosity sake.   But chick pea soup… and Italian at that?   It’s true and guess what?  I liked it and so did my husband.

I heard a recipe for chick pea soup which included pasta in the soup, but I lost the recipe and decided to try my own variation without the pasta.   I first made the soup with onions, celery and carrot, and oh yes… lots of garlic.    Added water and the can of chick peas.   I let it cook until the chick peas were soft and served myself a bowl.   It was half decent.   Too thin and not enough flavor.  Then my husband suggested blending it in a blender and add some cannellini beans to make it creamier.   Hmm…. ok, I’ll try that.   Boy what a difference!   The flavor of the beans was totally infused throughout the soup and I would have never guessed it was chick peas.   If I had used some chicken or vegetable stock it would have had even more depth to the soup, but it isn’t necessary.    It was filling too, but I had 2 bowls.

This recipe is so healthy.   Without even trying you will get a good dose of dietary soluble fiber which is really important.  We should be getting 35 grams of fiber daily.  1 serving (1/2 cup) of chick peas have 7 grams of dietary fiber.  1 serving (1/2 cup) of cannellini beans have 4 grams of dietary fiber.   That’s not bad!  Fiber is found in two forms, insoluble and soluble.  Insoluble fiber helps keep your intestines and colon area clean by literally scraping the old residue from the walls.  Soluble fiber on the other hand helps lower blood cholesterol and glucose levels.   Soluble fiber is called “soluble” because it dissolves in water creating a gel like material, according to the Mayo Clinic website.

The lack of fiber in a diet can lead to yucky stuff like colon polyps which can become cancerous.  The Mayo Clinic talks about preventive measures which can be taken and discusses how a proper high fiber diet is part of the solution http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/colon-polyps/DS00511/DSECTION=prevention .

This recipe is a good source of both types of fiber, but remember to drink plenty of water!

Enjoy and your high fiber soup and let me know if you try it!

Liz
Easy and Simple Italian Recipes
www.SimpleItalianRecipes.com

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