Vegan Chickpea Noodle Soup

Ingredients

For 4 portions

• 🏺 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 🧅 1 medium onions
• 🥕 2 medium carrots
• 🪴 2 sticks celery
• 🍄 150g mushrooms
• 🧄 2 cloves garlic
• 🥕 1,500ml vegetable broth (rehydrated stock cube)
• 🍞 2 Tbsp nutritional yeast
• 🥣 1 Tbsp soy sauce
• 🌿 2 leaves bay leaf
• 🌿 3 sprigs fresh thyme
• 🫘 2 cans (drained) chickpeas, canned
• 🍝 150g spaghetti (dry)
• 🌿 2 Tbsp parsley
• 🍋 1 Tbsp lemon juice
• 🌿 0.25 Tsp black pepper

Method

1. Heat the olive oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add the chopped onion, the carrots (sliced into rounds), the celery (sliced) and the mushrooms (sliced), and cook for 8–10 minutes until softened and the mushrooms are lightly browned. The browning gives the broth its savoury depth.
2. Stir in the crushed garlic and cook for 1 minute.
3. Pour in the stock and add the nutritional yeast, soy sauce, bay leaves and thyme sprigs. Bring to the boil, then simmer for 10 minutes.
4. Add the drained chickpeas and simmer for 5 minutes more. Discard the bay leaves and thyme stalks.
5. Break the spaghetti into 3–4 cm pieces (check it's egg-free; most dried pasta is), add to the pan and cook for 8–10 minutes, or as the packet says, until tender.
6. Stir in the chopped parsley and lemon juice, season with pepper and taste: the stock and soy sauce are salty, so you may not need any salt.
7. Serve hot. If you're making it ahead, cook the pasta separately and add it to each bowl, so it doesn't soak up all the broth.