Mediterranean Mussel And Chickpea Soup With Fennel And Lemon Recipes

Steps:

• In a soup pot over medium heat, sauté onion in olive oil until onion is translucent and has lost its bite. Add garlic and cook until slightly colored.
• Rinse chickpeas in cold water, then add to pot. Add water to pot until chickpeas are covered to the depth of 1 inch.
• Cook over medium heat (soup should bubble, but not come to a full boil) for an hour, or until the chickpeas are soft and silky. Add lemon juice and season with salt and pepper. Serve topped with grated Parmesan or a drizzle of good olive oil if desired.

Steps:

• Insert the clove into the onion. Put the onion in a large pot with the chickpeas, rosemary sprig, garlic, bay leaves, olive oil, salt and cheese rind. Add 5 cups water and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for about an hour, or until chickpeas are tender.
• Add the tomatoes, carrots and celery, cover loosely, and simmer until the vegetables are soft, about 25 minutes longer. While soup simmers, mix the chopped rosemary, grated Parmesan, lemon zest and pepper in a small bowl.
• Season the soup to taste and ladle into bowls. Sprinkle with the Parmesan mixture.

Steps:

• Heat oil in a large Dutch oven or other heavy pot with a lid over medium heat. When hot, add shallots; cook, stirring often, until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Stir in fennel and 1 teaspoon salt. Season generously with pepper. Saute fennel until it begins to soften, 3 to 4 minutes. Raise heat, and add lemon juice and wine. Bring to a boil, and cook until liquid is reduced by a quarter, about 2 minutes.
• Stir in mussels, and cover. Cook mussels until they just open, stirring halfway through to move the ones at the bottom to the top, 4 to 6 minutes. Discard any mussels that haven't opened after 6 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in lemon zest. Season with salt and pepper. If serving immediately, stir in parsley; if serving at room temperature, let cool slightly before adding parsley.

Steps:

• Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan or Dutch oven over medium heat, and add the garlic and chile flakes. Before the garlic colors, add the mussels and white wine. Increase the heat to high, cover, and let the mussels steam for 3 to 4 minutes, or until they just open.
• Discard any mussels that don't open and transfer the others to a baking dish with any cooking liquid that is in the pan. Set in the refrigerator until cool enough to handle. Once cool, remove the mussels from the shells, and discard the shells. (Note: You can keep the mussels in the fridge until ready to serve the soup, then proceed from this point.)
• In a medium-size saucepan, combine the mussels, cooking liquid, chickpeas, and sliced fennel and heat through. The fennel should retain a bit of a bite. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Add the lemon juice and parsley. Serve immediately.