Tomato and Chickpea Soup with Pesto Toast

• 2 tbspolive oil
• 1onion, chopped
• 2carrots, cut into 5 mm dice
• 3garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 tspdried oregano
• 1 tbsptomato puree
• 2 x 400gtins chopped tomatoes
• 2 x 400gtins chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 600mlvegetable stock
• 15 mllemon juice
• fine salt
• black pepper
• 4thick slices sourdough, about 50 g each
• 4 tbspgreen pesto (check the jar is vegetarian)

Method

1. 1Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over a medium heat. Add the onion and carrots with a teaspoon of salt and cook for 8 minutes until soft and sweet with no colour.
2. 2Stir in the garlic, oregano and tomato puree for 1 minute until the puree darkens and smells rich.
3. 3Add the tomatoes, chickpeas and stock. Bring to the boil and simmer for 12 minutes until the carrots are completely tender and the soup has thickened a little.
4. 4Use a stick blender in the pan to blend roughly half the soup, leaving plenty of whole chickpeas and diced vegetables for texture.
5. 5Add the lemon juice and plenty of black pepper. Taste and add salt until the tomatoes taste sweet rather than tinny.
6. 6Toast the sourdough until golden and crisp at the edges, then spread each slice thickly with the pesto while hot so it melts in. Serve the soup in bowls with the pesto toast for dunking.

Per serving

kcal

501

protein

18.7g

fibre

14.4g

carbs

65.8g

fat

16.2g