¾ cup dried chickpeas - soaked overnight or up to 24 hours
8 cups purified water
2 bay leaves
1 large head of cauliflower - cut into bite-sized florets
10 oz crimini mushrooms - cut into quarters or eighths for bigger mushrooms
freshly ground black pepper
1 cup frozen peas
juice from 1 lemon
fresh herbs - for garnish
Instructions
Preheat oven to 400° F (200° C). Warm a soup pot over medium heat. Add a generous drizzle of olive oil and sesame oil, if using. Add the onion, carrot, and celery to the pot, along with a pinch of salt. Cook the vegetables for about 10 minutes, until soft. Add the garlic, smoked paprika, and nutritional yeast, if using, and stir around for about 30 seconds to 1 minute, until fragrant. Drain and thoroughly rinse the chickpeas and add them to the pot, stirring to coat. Add the water and bay leaves, bring the liquid up to a simmer and cook, with the pot lid askew, for 30 minutes. Taste a few chickpeas after the 30 minutes, they should be cooked and creamy inside. If the chickpeas are not yet done, cook them longer. This process can take up to an hour or even longer with some older chickpeas. Generously salt the chickpea broth towards the end of the chickpea cooking time.
While the chickpeas are cooking, prepare two rimmed, parchment paper-covered baking trays. Place the cauliflower on one of the trays and the mushrooms - on the other one. Drizzle both the cauliflower and mushrooms with olive oil (or other roasting oil of choice), sprinkle with salt and pepper, and stir. Place both trays in the preheated oven and roast for 30-40 minutes, stirring halfway, until the cauliflower is soft and caramelized. The mushrooms will release water while roasting, so that's why using a rimmed baking tray helps.
Once the chickpeas are cooked and the vegetables are roasted, add the cauliflower and mushrooms to the pot with the chickpeas, stirring to combine. Add about half of the soup to an upright blender, making sure to catch plenty of chickpeas, cauliflower, and mushrooms for creaminess. Blend until smooth and return the blended liquid to the soup pot, mixing everything together. Bring the soup back up to a boil and simmer for 5 more minutes for the flavors to merge. Turn off the heat and stir in the peas, which will thaw immediately in the hot soup. Stir in the lemon juice. Taste for salt and pepper and adjust if needed. Serve the chowder, garnished with fresh herbs, a drizzle of sesame oil or olive oil, and with a side of toasted sourdough bread or croutons. Enjoy!
Notes
You can also make this soup with canned chickpeas! Just use one to two 15 ounce cans of chickpeas and less water (start with about 5-6 cups). Since the chickpeas are cooked, you don't have to simmer them for 30 minutes. Otherwise, proceed as written out in the recipe.
Recipe by Golubka Kitchen at https://golubkakitchen.com/roasted-cauliflower-and-mushroom-chowder/