Creamy chickpea soup with clams

1. Prepare the chickpeas: Rinse the previously soaked chickpeas under running water. Drain and cook them in a large pot with plenty of water and a couple of bay leaves until tender. Cook them for the time indicated on the package or you can use a pressure cooker to reduce time. Once cooked, drain the chickpeas and reserve a cup of the cooking water.
   
2. Prepare the clams: Rinse the clams to remove any sand and then soak them in water with coarse salt for 20 minutes. Rinse them several times with fresh water. When no more sand grains can be seen in the draining water, rinse one last time and discard any clams which are open or have broken shells.
   
3. Cook the clams: Heat 2 spoons of extra virgin olive oil in a frying pan with a couple of garlic cloves, chopped parsley, and half a teaspoon of fresh chilli pepper and ground dried pepper. Before it starts to sauté, add the clams, cook them for a few minutes and then add ½ glass of dry white wine. Cover with a lid, turn occasionally and cook until the shells open. Turn off the heat and move the pan away from the heat source to prevent the clams from continuing to cook. Adjust seasoning.
   
4. Strain and prepare the clams: Strain off the cooking juices with a clean tea towel or a fine sieve and keep it aside in a bowl. Shell most of the clams and return them to the pan, keeping 20 with shells on.
   
5. Blend the chickpeas: a food processor or a hand-blender, blend the cooked chickpeas with the clam cooking juices, one or two tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, and adjust salt and pepper. You need to obtain a smooth and soft cream texture, so if necessary, add the reserved chickpea cooking water to thin it down.
   
6. Serving: Pour the chickpea soup into small bowls and arrange the shelled clams and 4-5 with the shells on top of the soup. Garnish with a drizzle of oil and some chives.
   

Chef top tip:
To add more crunch to the dish, you can add a slice of very thinly sliced whole wheat bread, toasted in the oven and flavored with crushed garlic.