Laura Wright, vegan cookbook author and creator of the legume-friendly food blog The First Mess, shared this simple and addictive chickpea soup recipe with us. Blending some of the chickpeas creates a creamy base for the soup—smoked paprika, miso, and vinegar add a nice depth of flavor. 

• ¼ cup olive oil
• 1 large yellow onion, small dice (about 2 heaped cups diced onion)
• sea salt and ground black pepper, to taste
• 2 sticks celery, chopped (about 1 cup diced celery)
• 2 medium carrots, chopped (about 1 cup diced carrot)
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh rosemary (about 1 really full sprig)
• 2 teaspoons smoked paprika, such as Rancho Gordo Castillo Spanish Pimenton
• 4-5 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 tablespoons tomato paste
• 5 cups cooked chickpeas, such as Rancho Gordo Garbanzo beans
• 6 cups vegetable stock (plus extra, see notes)
• 2 tablespoons light miso
• 1½ teaspoons red wine vinegar, or more to taste
• 1 teaspoon Tamari chili oil or chili crisp, for serving
• extra coarsely ground black pepper, for serving

Serves 6

1. Set a large, heavy bottomed soup pot over medium heat. Once it's nice and hot, pour in the olive oil and swirl it around. Add the onions and sauté, stirring here and there for about 10-12 minutes. You want them super soft and quite transparent. If the onions are browning too quickly, lower the heat. Season with salt and pepper.
2. Add the celery and carrots to the pot and sauté for another 8-9 minutes, or until the edges of the carrots and celery are softened. Season again with salt and pepper.
3. Add the rosemary, paprika, and garlic to the pot and stir. Keep stirring and sautéing until spices are very fragrant, about 2 minutes.
   Add the tomato paste to the pot and stir. Keep stirring and mixing it up into the vegetables until the raw, tin-like flavour is cooked out, about 1 minute.
4. Add the chickpeas to the pot and stir to coat in the seasoning and vegetables. Then, pour in the vegetable stock. Season liberally with salt and pepper. Bring the chickpea soup to a boil. Then, lower the heat to a light simmer.
5. Place the lid ajar on top of the pot and simmer the soup for about 40 minutes, stirring here and there.
6. Remove about 2 cups of the soup and transfer it to an upright, vented blender. To the blender, add the miso. Blend this mixture on high until creamy. Add the puréed portion of the soup back to the pot and stir. Bring the soup back up to a strong boil for about 5 minutes. At this point, if you would like to thin out the soup a bit, add more vegetable stock.
7. Stir the red wine vinegar and the Tamari into the soup. Give the chickpea soup a taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary (more salt, pepper, vinegar, Tamari etc). Serve the soup hot with chili oil and extra black pepper.