Chickpea balls
- Easy
- 50 min
- Kcal 759
 
				Ciotoline di pane con vellutata di ceci is one of those dishes that, honestly, really adds a wow factor to your dinner table without being tricky to pull off. Picture this: it's a fun twist on the classic chickpea soup in bread bowl style, but with a genuine Italian touch. And here's the thing: it all starts with a base of fragrant shallot soffritto, giving the soup a gentle sweetness that perfectly matches the earthiness of chickpeas. I mean, fresh rosemary in the broth adds a hint of the Mediterranean, making the soup smell as inviting as it tastes.
What you get is a super creamy chickpea soup recipe that’s smooth and rich—seriously, it’s more impressive than it sounds, but actually quite simple. Once blended, the vellutata is so silky you could almost eat it with a spoon straight from the pot. For real. But, the real surprise comes from serving it inside homemade bread bowls.
In Italy, people love adding that extra touch with the bread—these bowls are crafted from regular bread dough, shaped, and baked to hold your bread bowl chickpea soup. It's not just about looks. Really. The crust turns a little crisp in the oven, making it perfect for soaking up every last drop of soup. Plus, you can customize the bread bowls however you want, using seeds or spices to make them your own.
This interactive element really turns the meal into something memorable. Each bite is a mix of soft, warm bread and the thick, creamy chickpea soup recipe inside—it’s like eating your bowl and your soup at the same time. Pretty much. This is the kind of food that works great as a cozy appetizer for guests or just when you want something a bit different on a chilly night. And since it’s a vegetarian chickpea soup, it checks the box for anyone who wants a hearty, feel-good option that tastes as good as it looks.
Plus, cleaning up is a breeze—no bowls to wash when you’ve eaten them! With just a bit of effort, you’ll have a dish that delights both the eyes and the palate, capturing the core of Italian comfort food.
 
										To prepare the bread bowl with chickpea velouté, start by rehydrating the dry chickpeas the night before: place them in a bowl, cover them with water, and let them rest for 12 hours 1. You can also use pre-cooked chickpeas, skipping this step. Then proceed with preparing the bread dough by consulting our Cooking School: Bread dough; alternatively, you can use 10 g of fresh brewer's yeast. Once the dough is formed, shape it into a round form, transfer it to a bowl, cover it with plastic wrap, and let it rise in a dry and warm place for about 1 to 1.5 hours 2, until it has doubled in volume. Then clean and peel the shallot and finely chop it 3.
 
										Heat a drizzle of oil in a high-sided pot and sauté the chopped shallot 4. After the necessary time for rehydration, drain the chickpeas, which will have softened, and add them to the pot 5. Sauté the chickpeas for a couple of minutes over medium heat, then cover with vegetable broth (to learn how to prepare and store it best, consult our Cooking School: Vegetable broth) and add 2 sprigs of rosemary for flavor 6.
 
										Cover the pot with a lid and let it cook on low heat for about 2.5 hours 7. Meanwhile, prepare the small bowls: once the bread dough has doubled in volume 8, remove the plastic wrap, transfer it to a lightly floured work surface, and roll it out with a rolling pin until you get a round sheet about 0.2 inches thick 9. Divide it into four parts using a pastry cutter.
 
										At this point, take 4 terracotta or heat-resistant glass bowls with a diameter of 4 inches, turn them upside down on the work surface, and oil the outer surface with a brush 10. Then place the dough over the bowls 11, pressing it well and removing the excess parts with a pastry cutter 12.
 
										Shape the edges of the bowls, forming some pleats 13, then bake in a preheated static oven at 392°F for 15 minutes until the surface is slightly golden; if using a fan oven, bake at 356°F for 10 minutes. Then unmold the dough and place it inside the bowls so that the inside cooks too 14. Put it back in the oven at 392°F for 10 minutes or at 356°F for 5 minutes if baking in a fan oven. While the bread bowls are baking, remove the rosemary sprigs from the chickpea soup and transfer everything to a blender 15.
 
										Blend for a few seconds until you get a smooth and homogeneous mixture 16. Now pour the chickpea velouté into the bowls 17 and decorate with black truffle flakes 18. Your bread bowls with chickpea velouté are ready to be served hot!