In a medium pan, put the olive oil, garlic, hot chili pepper, and whole stem of parsley and stir over medium heat, about 45 seconds to one minute, stirring frequently. If you like, you can drop the remaining stems in the pan to add an additional touch of fresh green taste to the olive oil.
Pour the jar of chickpeas and their liquids into the pan and cook for 5 to 6 minutes, stirring occasionally.
In the meantime, in a medium saucepan, pour in a small ladleful of water and bring to a strong simmer over medium to high heat. Add the clams, cover the pan, and simmer until the clams open and have rendered their liquids, about 1½ to 2 minutes. Drain the clams through a fine-mesh sieve into a medium bowl, reserving their liquids. Put the clams in a separate bowl and set aside.
Remove and discard the parley sprigs (and any additional stems) and hot chili pepper from the chickpea broth. At this point, you can leave the broth as is with whole chickpeas, or remove about ¾ cup of the chickpeas and puree them in a separate bowl until smooth, using a hand held blender or tines of a fork- then stir the pureed chickpeas back into the broth, like I like to do.
Taste the broth and season with salt, only if necessary. Add a few grinding of black pepper, stir and taste again, making any adjustments as necessary.
Pour in the clam liquids and continue to cook, letting the broth reduce for a bit and the flavors a change to mingle, stirring occasionally for another 2 to 3 minutes (depending upon how much liquids are in the pan).
Toss in the clams and stir and toss briefly, or just until they are well coated with the chickpeas and the broth. Sprinkle with the reserved parsley and serve hot, with the crusty slices of bread to accompany the soup, as you wish.
