Kale and Chickpea Soup with Lemon

Set a Dutch oven or large saucepan over medium heat and pour in the olive oil.

Peel and finely dice the shallots and add them into the pan, stirring to coat with the oil. Make 4 or 5 long horizontal slices down the length of the celery stalk then dice it. Add this to the pan and stir. Finely chop the rosemary leaves and stir them into the pan together with the bay leaf and the chili flakes.

Using the flat of your knife and the heel of your hand, crush the clove of garlic so that it is still whole and add it into pan.

Add the chickpeas and the kale and stir. Pour in the hot stock, let it come to a boil the turn down the heat so that it’s simmering. Let the mixture simmer for 20 minutes until the kale is tender. Add the lemon juice. Check the seasoning and adjust to taste. You might want more lemon or salt—it all depends on what you have used for the stock.

Working in batches (if using a regular blender) or in the pan itself if you have a stick blender, blend the soup until you have the texture you like. I like mine to still have a few chickpeas and pieces of kale throughout so I set aside a couple of ladles full of the soup before blending and used a stick blender to blitz the rest.

Serve hot, floating a couple of slices of lemon on top of each serving and pass round the Parmesan cheese for everyone to help themselves. Lovely with toasted crusty bread.