Leblebi North African Chickpea Soup Recipes

Steps:

• Prepare the crispy chickpeas: Transfer chickpeas to a rimmed baking sheet lined with a clean dish towel or paper towels. Cover with another towel (or paper towels) on top, rubbing gently to dry. Remove top towel and let air-dry for at least 30 minutes and preferably 1 hour.
• As chickpeas dry, start preparing the soup: In a Dutch oven or heavy stockpot, combine soaked chickpeas, 5 cups water, 1 tablespoon olive oil, bay leaves and 1/2 teaspoon salt over high heat. Bring to a boil for 2 to 3 minutes, then reduce heat to a simmer, cover and cook until chickpeas are tender, about 1 to 2 hours.
• Heat oven to 400 degrees. While chickpeas are cooking, cut bread into thick slices, then tear slices into bite-size pieces. Place bread in one layer on large rimmed baking sheet and toast until crisp and light brown, about 10 minutes. Let cool on pan and set aside.
• Finish the crunchy chickpeas: Raise oven temperature to 425 degrees. Remove the towels from baking sheet with the chickpeas, and toss the chickpeas with 2 teaspoons olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon salt and za'atar until well coated. Roast until golden and crispy, about 13 to 18 minutes, tossing halfway through. When chickpeas are still hot, sprinkle lightly more salt. Taste and add more salt or za'atar, or both, if you'd like.
• When the chickpeas for the soup are tender, discard bay leaves. Using a slotted spoon, transfer 2 cups of chickpeas, 1/2 cup of chickpea cooking liquid and 1/4 cup olive oil to a blender or food processor, and purée until smooth. (Alternatively, you can use an immersion blender to blitz half the chickpeas into a rough purée. Add the olive oil before puréeing. The broth won't be as silky as it would be puréed in a regular blender, but it will taste just as good.)
• In a large skillet over medium-high, heat the remaining 2 tablespoons oil until shimmering. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook until golden, about 2 minutes. Add the remaining 1 teaspoon salt, 1 tablespoon cumin and tomato paste and cook, stirring, until fragrant, 1 minute. Add a splash of the chickpea cooking liquid to the pan, and bring to a simmer to deglaze, scraping up the browned bits on the bottom of the pan. Turn off heat.
• Add chickpea purée and onion mixture to soup, along with harissa and lemon juice, and stir well. Add a little water if soup seems too thick, and more salt, if needed.
• To serve, divide toasted bread pieces among soup bowls, then ladle in soup. Garnish with lemon zest, parsley, olive oil, more cumin and some of the crispy chickpeas - you'll have leftovers. Serve hot, with more harissa on the side.

Steps:

• To make the chickpeas, preheat the oven to 115°. Put the soaked prepared chickpeas, stock, garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper, and extra water to cover the peas by 1", if necessary, into a heavy lidded pot or casserole pot. Bring to a boil, cover and put in oven for about 3 hours, or until fully cooked and silky. Now, you can keep going, or store the soup in the fridge for a day or two, until you're ready to go. When you are ready you can make it all (serves 8) or a bit now, and more later. If you have refrigerated it, you can easily remove the fat from the top.
• When you are ready to eat, reheat the chickpeas in their liquid, while you prepare the eggs. Fill a bowl with ice water. For each bowl of soup, put one egg in a pan of not quite boiling water. Cover pan and turn off the heat. After 6 minutes, slip the eggs into the ice water to cool. Once they ar cool, peel them carefully, leaving the medium cooked eggs whole. This is a little bit fidlely but worth the effort after coming so far, or a runny boiled/fried egg can do the job too!
• Put some stale bread in the bottom of each bowl, and cover with a portion of chickpeas and their cooking liquid. Set an egg on top of each bowl, and cut it so that the yolk runs. Dribble some harissa sauce over each and sprinkle with cumin and freshly ground pepper. Top with olives, capers, and diced bell pepper. Dribble on a bit of olive oil, and squeeze the lemon wedge over all.
• This is a satisfying, belly-warming, invigorating soup, to cure you if you are both tired and hungry. But don't substitute for those chickpeas!
• Serve with a Sangiovese.

Steps:

• In a large saucepan or soup pot, saute the garlic and jalapenos in the olive oil until garlic is lightly golden.
• Add the caraway and oregano and stir in for a couple of minutes.
• Add the chickpeas, broth and water; simmer together over medium heat for about 20 minutes.
• Stir in the lemon juice and cilantro, season to taste with salt and pepper (I like lots of black pepper); simmer for 5 more minutes and serve topped with croutons.