Tunisian Lablabi (Chickpea & Harissa Soup)

If using Canned chickpeas, tip them into a bowl and keep back a mug of their canning liquid; if you cooked your own, you already have the soft chickpeas and their broth. Crush 4 cloves Garlic with the flat of a knife and a pinch of Salt into a rough paste. Crush ½ tsp Caraway seeds and 1 tsp Coriander seeds lightly with the same knife or a pestle; you want them cracked, not powdered.

⚠ Tip: Canned chickpeas save an hour. If you soak dried chickpeas, simmer them with a pinch of Salt until completely soft before you start.

Tear Bread into rough chunks and let them dry out on the counter while the broth simmers. Warm 3 tbsp Extra-virgin olive oil in a heavy pot over medium heat. Add the garlic paste, the crushed seeds and 1 tbsp Harissa; stir for a minute until the whole kitchen smells of chilli and caraway.

⚠ Tip: Stale bread holds up; fresh bread turns to porridge. If yours is fresh, dry it for ten minutes in a low oven.

⚠ Tip: Do not let the garlic brown; it turns bitter. Pull the pot off the heat if it starts to colour.

Add the chickpeas, 1 l Water, the reserved canning liquid, 1 Bay leaves and 1 tsp Salt. Bring to a gentle bubble and simmer uncovered until the chickpeas give way under a spoon and the broth tastes deep, about 45 min. Finely chop 1 Red onions and tear 1 bunch Coriander leaves for the top. If you want eggs, boil 2 Eggs for 7 min, cool them in cold water, then peel and halve. Have 1 Lemons cut into wedges ready.

⚠ Tip: Crush a few chickpeas against the side of the pot to thicken the broth; leave most whole for bite.

Put the torn bread in deep bowls. Ladle the hot chickpeas and broth over it so the bread soaks but does not collapse, then let it sit for 2 min.

⚠ Tip: The bread is the point: it thickens the broth into something you eat with a spoon.

Top each bowl with a spoon of Harissa, a dusting of Ground cumin, a hard grind of Caraway seeds, plenty of Extra-virgin olive oil and the raw Red onions. Stir it together at the table — the broth should turn red and smell fierce.

⚠ Tip: Taste before you salt: harissa is salty and the bread keeps drinking.

Slide the eggs on top if you like, squeeze over the Lemons, and eat immediately with more harissa on the side for people who want it hotter.

⚠ Tip: Lablabi waits for no one: once the bread goes in, eat within ten minutes or it becomes porridge.