Chickpea and Harissa Soup (Lablabi)
Our editorial director J.M. Hirsch calls this spiced chickpea soup “the best soup in the world”—a medley of crunchy croutons, a fragrant broth, and an abundance of toppings.
- Makes8 servings
- Cook Time1 hour
- 9
This brothy-bready Tunisian chickpea soup gets punches of flavor from garlic, tomato paste and cumin.. And instead of using stale bread—as is common in Tunisia—we got better texture by toasting chunks of crusty bread in olive oil to make croutons. Toasted ground cumin is used in the soup as well as on it; to be efficient, toast it all at once. In a small, dry skillet over medium, toast 5 tablespoons ground cumin, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 1 minute, then transfer to a small bowl. To make soft-cooked eggs for serving, bring 2 cups water to a simmer in a large saucepan fitted with a steamer basket. Add the desired number of eggs, cover and steam over medium for 7 minutes. Immediately transfer the eggs to ice water to stop the cooking.
Don't forget to soak the dried chickpeas. They need to soak for at least 12 hours before cooking.
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