Tuscan Chickpea Soup - cooking recipe

Ingredients

3 cups dried garbanzo beans or (15 ounce) cans chickpeas
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cups chopped onions
8 cloves garlic (pressed or minced)
2 cups vegetable stock
2 cups water or 2 cups additional vegetable stock
2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary or 1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary
1/4 teaspoon pepper (freshly ground is always better)
1 (15 ounce) can diced tomatoes (undrained)
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 1/2 ounces grated fresh parmesan cheese (6 tbs)

Preparation

Soak dried garbanzo beans in water to cover overnight.
Rinse and inspect the beans and set aside.
In a skillet heat the olive oil over medium heat, add the garlic and onion and cook of 10 minutes stirring frequently.
Put the onion mixture, garbanzo beans, and next 5 ingredients in your crockpot.
Simmer in the crockpot for 2 to 4 hours.
(I will start this on low in the morning, and turn up the heat when I come home for lunch).
To make the soup thicker, blend 4 cups of the soup in a blender, 1 cup at a time (very carefully, this is hot soup!) then place all 4 cups back into the soup.
Stir in the balsamic vinegar and let the soup simmer another 15 minutes.
(this is the perfect time to throw together a salad).
Place the soup in bowls (1 1/2 cups for 6 servings) and sprinkle with parmesan (1 tbs).