Greek inspired chickpea soup

Sometimes you have to improvise a meal very quickly and in those cases it helps to have a full store cupboard. Last thursday it was such a day and I was getting started to make Balila, one of my classics, when I came to the conclusion that I was sick of eating the same chickpea soup again. That's how I came up with this simple dish which is true comfort food. If you have more time than I had, I suggest you use dried legumes instead of canned ones, for it would be even tastier. Just soak them overnight and double the cooking time. As the soup is with a Greek twist, I used a lot of olive oil. If you don't have good quality extra vergine olive oil or if you don't feel like using such a big amount of it, then don't even bother getting started with this soup, because the result won't be satisfactory. Ingredients, serves 3-4 - 2 cans of chickpeas (800g) - 120mL extra vergine olive oil - 1/2 tbsp dried oregano - 1 bay leaf - 1 tbsp tomato paste - 1 medium red onion, finely chopped - juice of 1/2 lemon - 2 tbsp of wheat flour (I used millet, because I am currently trying to eat less gluten) - water - salt and black pepper Rinse and drain the chickpeas. Put them in a pot and add enough water to cover the chickpeas by about 3cm. Stir in the oil, oregano, bay leaf, chopped onion and tomato paste. Cover, bring to boil and let the soup simmer for about 30 minutes. If you want the soup to be less watery, you could bind it. In that case, you should put the flour into a little bowl and add a big soup spoon of soup while you wisk. Then slowly add the mixture to the pot while stirring quickly. Let cook for another couple of minutes. I mashed some of the chikpeas with an immersion blender to make the soup even thicker. Turn off the heat, add the lemon juice and season with salt and black pepper. Serve hot, with some nice country bread and a fresh salad. Buon appetito!