Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking:

This week’s new recipe of the week is Chick Pea Soup with Rice from Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking. Until this past year, I never realized how varied “Italian” food is from region to region. So much so that I’ve heard that people from Italy scoff at the idea of defining it all with one broad, simple title. I’ve had an interest in learning more about how Italian food varies in each region, which is why I was so excited to receive this cookbook for my birthday last year. It’s time to learn more about the food of my grandparents’ homeland.

My great-grandparents were from Bari. The Italian food I’ve grown up eating was pretty heavy: anti pasta on all the major holidays, eggplant parm, ravioli, tomato sauce, braciole, which I just learned isn’t spelled “brajole.” I also thought tarelles were spelled “tadals” until I actually paid attention to the bag they came in when I was 21.

I was excited to try something a little bit lighter, and something that if I liked it, would be easy to make again and again - so I chose the chickpea soup with rice. The recipe starts by building the layers of flavor with olive oil, garlic, rosemary, chopped tomatoes. Because I am who I am, I did take a liberty to add a parmesan rind once the broth and rice were added.

The soup came out - chef’s kiss - and I’ve already made it again this week. 10/10 adding it to my regular rotation!