Solar Cooked Chickpeas

With company arriving this week I can no longer put it off, I have to get the house clean. I remembered to soak the chickpeas for today's vegetarian stew, but I didn't have all the other ingredients. I could have made a quick trip to the store and had the vegetables in the Sun Oven around noon. That would have been enough time to solar cook it, but then it would have been lunch time and I'd have decided there was something else I needed to be doing in the afternoon and cleaning house would have been put off for one more day. I'm incredibly good at avoiding housework. So, for today's dish, only the chickpeas were solar cooked.

The recipe is from epicurious.com. Quinoa with Moroccan Winter Squash and Carrot Stew. I followed pretty much to the letter except I added chickpeas and didn't use any saffron. It's the first time either of us have ever had quinoa. I'm not quite sure what I think of it. I know it's incredibly nutritious, but I can see how it didn't really wow the Spanish conquistadors the same way other new world crops did.

Solar Pasta e Ceci

I had completely forgot about this traditional Roman soup until we recently watched the classic Italian film "I Soliti Ignoti" (English title "Big Deal on Madonna Street"). It's a caper movie where a group of hapless thieves sit down to a bowl of Pasta e Ceci after their disastrous attempt to break into a pawn shop. Good Italians that they are, they immediately began discussing the merits and faults of the soup. Since then it's been a regular in our meal rotation. It is basically Pasta e Fagioli with chickpeas instead of beans, and it is a solar cooking favorite.

Pasta e Ceci (chickpea and pasta soup)

1/2 lb dry chickpeas

1 TBS olive oil

1 leek, white and pale green part only, chopped (or 1 small onion)

2 medium carrots, chopped

2 stalks celery, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

1 cup chopped tomatoes, preferably Pomì

salt

pepper

1 cup small tubular pasta such as ditalini

2 TBS chopped fresh rosemary

1 TBS balsamic vinegar

freshly grated parmesan cheese

Soak chickpeas overnight. Drain, put chickpeas in a dark pot with water and place in solar oven. While chickpeas are cooking prepare the soup base. Heat olive oil in large heavy dutch oven. Add leek, carrots, celery and garlic and saute until vegetables are soft, about 10 minutes. Add chopped tomatoes and let simmer for about 20 minutes. When chickpeas are cooked remove from solar oven. Set aside 1/2 cup chickpeas add remaining to dutch oven with the cooking liquid. Off the heat blend with a emersion blender. At this point if you are ready to eat the soup and there's still enough sun you can put the dutch oven in the solar oven cover and bring to a slow boil. If soup is too thick add some water. Add the pasta, reserved chickpeas, salt and pepper to taste. When the pasta is ready, take the dutch oven out of the solar oven. Add rosemary and balsamic vinegar. Serve with parmesan cheese and a drizzle of olive oil. If it's too late to cook the pasta in the solar oven complete the soup on the stovetop. Do not cook the pasta until you are ready to eat or it will get soggy. Serves 4 to 6.