Sunday Soup #48: Lablabi (Chickpea and Harissa Soup)

I've been away a few weeks (yay, holidays!), so the format of this post is going to be a little different... I have a nice long post for you, including the recipe for a great soup (that I think you're going to want to try!) and a link to a recipe for an easy and delicious harissa (i.e., a spicy pepper paste often used in African and Middle Eastern cooking, which can sometimes be difficult to find at grocery stores).

The cultural roots of Lablabi (sometimes Lablebi) are quite interesting, and I encourage you to read about it more when you have a chance. It is most closely associated with being a breakfast dish in Tunisia, but it is also eaten in places like Iraq and Turkey (where it has different names, and some variations, but is essentially the same). For those looking for a better frame of reference, I found Lablabi to be somewhat akin to Japanese ramen: brothy, well-spiced, heavily garnished, with a starchy core ingredient, often eaten as late-night comfort food.

One recent publication I saw called Lablabi "The Best Soup in the World," so it caught my interest... But, did it deliver?

This recipe came from: Recipes for Lablabi can be found on multiple sites (such as http://www.slowburningpassion.com/lablabi-chickpea-soup-tunisians-eat-breakfast/ and http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2013/10/mollie-katzens-lablabi-tunisian-chickpea-soup.html). But, the recipe I liked most was published by (subscription-based) Milk Street Magazine (which has 14-day free site access: https://www.177milkstreet.com/recipes/chickpea-and-harissa-soup-lablabi).

The recipe I am posting for you today is my own spin on the Milk Street recipe, tweaked to suit my normal mode: cheap, easy, and yummy! I'll give you my recipe first, and then finish up with my normal impressions/analysis.

*Pic 1 - https://www.177milkstreet.com/recipes/chickpea-and-harissa-soup-lablabi

First, the recipe:

Lablabi (Chickpea and Harissa Soup)
Cooking/Prep Time: 1 hr 15 mins (unless you're using an Instant Pot)
Serves: 8

Ingredients-
2 cups dried chickpeas (or 4 cups canned) (*chickpeas are also called garbanzo beans)
1 large yellow onion, chopped (I buy the pre-chopped, because onions make me cry)
6 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp tomato paste
2 tbsp ground cumin, toasted (see below)
6 tbsp harissa (I couldn't find harissa at the store, so I made my own from a very simple recipe, and it was great! See: http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/quick-harissa)
96 oz chicken broth
2 tbsp lemon juice
Large French bread baguette
Black pepper, to taste
Kosher salt (used at various steps; see below)
Olive oil, extra virgin (used at various steps; see below)

Suggested Garnishes (some traditional, others suggested by me)-
Hard- or soft-cooked eggs, halved
Capers
Kalamata or pitted green olives
Flat-leaf parsley
Cilantro
Sambal oelek chili paste
Leftover harissa and/or olive oil
Toasted cumin
Lemon wedges
Greek yogurt

Preparation-
1. If you are using dried chickpeas, soak them overnight (or up to 24 hours, if you have the time) in an uncovered bowl, at room temperature, using 2 tablespoons Kosher salt dissolved into enough water to keep the chickpeas immersed. If you need to save time, go for your favorite brand of canned chickpeas (note the quantity differences above). However, full disclosure, the Milk Street version of the recipe offers the following tip: "Don't use canned chickpeas in this soup. Cooked dried chickpeas - which should be soaked for at least 12 hours - are key to the robust broth."

2. Toasted Cumin: You can toast cumin seeds and grind them, but I cheat by just adding ground cumin to a dry non-stick skillet over medium heat and stirring continually (a wooden spatula is great for this!) until the powder darkens to a deep golden brown. It doesn't take very long...

3. In a large soup pot or dutch oven, sauté the onion in 2 tablespoons of olive oil until the pieces turn translucent. Add the garlic and stir until fragrant. Add the tomato paste and stir until it coats the onion/garlic mixture and slightly browns. Stir in the toasted cumin and harissa, stirring until fragrant and coating the ingredients. Add the chicken broth and (if necessary) deglaze the pot.

4. Add the chickpeas to the pot and quickly bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and simmer uncovered (stirring occasionally) for about an hour. (*You are really just trying to make the chickpeas tender, so if you are using canned chickpeas, or making this using an Instant Pot, you may adjust the cooking time accordingly).

5. Bread: A key ingredient in this dish is the bread. Traditionally, as a breakfast soup, stale bread from the day before is often used. However, I really liked making my own softly fried bread, as I feel like it added a lot of flavor. While the soup is simmering, cut a large French baguette into 1/2" slices, and then hand-tear those slices into smaller bite-sized pieces. Over medium heat, bring 3 tablespoons olive oil and 1 teaspoon Kosher salt to temperature in a non-stick skillet. Add the bread pieces to the skillet and stir until the bread has absorbed most of the oil and picked up a LIGHT crisp/toast (we are just trying to approximate the texture of stale bread). Repeat as necessary until all bread is toasted and (once cool) put the bread/croutons aside in a bowl.

6. When the chickpeas are tender, turn off the heat, add the lemon juice and additional salt/pepper (to taste).

7. Serve by placing a handful of the lightly fried bread pieces in the bottom of your bowl and ladling the broth and chickpeas over the top. Then, go crazy with your garnishes to suit your tastes!



General Thoughts: Although the recipe above seems big (and a little scary - i.e., toasting cumin, frying bread, etc.), it did not take a great deal of time to prepare it. Really! Even making my own harissa took me less than 10 minutes... All together (not counting soaking the chickpeas), I think everything could be prepped in about 30 minutes (then about an hour for the cooking, of course). So, while it is not super-quick or brainless, it is a recipe that will deliver quality (and exotic flavor) in exchange for minimum/medium effort.

*Pics 2 & 3 - Pictures from when I made it

The flavor of this soup was amazing! Albeit, some of it was derived from my chosen garnishes, but that's part of the adventure... The exotic and rich harissa and toasted cumin flavors, contrasted with the acidic and salty flavors of the lemon juice and olives, combined to impart the starchy bulk (i.e., the chickpeas and toasted bread) with palate pleasing yumminess in every single bite.

The bread, believe it or not, was a particular standout in this dish... The texture, after soaking in the broth for a few minutes, was perfect! Not too soft, but not really crispy, and full of flavor from the salt/olive oil combo used to lightly toast it. It was not unlike a good bowl of French onion soup, where a tasty piece of French bread (seasoned with some garlic salt and covered with the right cheese) can really bring the bowl together.

Potential Improvements? Since the recipe I printed for you above is my own take on other Lablabi recipes I've found, and written to suit my tastes and tendencies, it already incorporates any of the changes/modifications I would suggest.

Polling the Fam: I thoroughly enjoyed this soup, and I feel like it is one of the best I've made in this project so far! I will definitely be making it again. Becky, my sometimes-picky wife, was the big surprise... I thought she'd think this soup was "just okay," but she really liked it and went back for seconds! She thought the chickpeas were a little undercooked, but she made special mention of the bread and said she'd definitely eat it again. Hunter also really liked it, loving the garnishes and saying he thought the bread and lemon juice were both particularly important to the overall dish. He, likewise, said he'd like to eat it again. Fox, my pickiest eater, simply grunted and said, "I don't care for garbanzo beans." So, you can make of that what you will...

Verdict: Loved it! (5 stars)