Chickpea soup

I have a confession to make - social media overwhelms me. May be it is because I am old (fashioned). I still think the primary purpose of my (smart) phone is to make phone calls, email is an efficient way to communicate and thank you letters should be written by hand.
But to my surprise when my media savvy friend introduced me to Twitter, I was hooked. So much information is such perfect titbits... this was a revelation and people tweeted recipes.
This was one keeper that I discovered via Mark Bitman's twitter feed. I adapted the recipe to ingredients I had in my pantry. You can find the original recipe  here. 

-1 cup dry chick peas soaked overnight and cooked until tender
  or 2 cups canned.
-2 jars of roasted red bell peppers (drained)
-1 medium white onion sliced thin
-2 tsps Olive Oil
-4 cloves garlic
-4 to 6 cups water or vegetable stock
-2 tsp cumin
-1/2 tsp paprika
-2 tsp basil pesto(made without any cheese) (optional)

Add the olive oil to a large stockpot on medium heat and sweat the onions. When the onions start to turn brown add the garlic and saute for a minute or two. Add the cumin, paprika. Add the chickpeas, red bell pepper and the 4 cups of stock (or  water0. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes.  Puree the soup roughly in a blender in batches or use an immersion blender. Add more stock or water and bring to a boil again if you want a thinner soup.
Serve hot with a drizzle of pesto.
* I usually add a bay leaf a few cloves of garlic to the pot when cooking the chick peas.