Chickpea tahini soup with harissa roasted peppers

Serves: 4

If they like it, it serves 4 otherwise

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 40 minutes

Totaltime: 50 minutes

Harissa paste has serious kick but, once stirred into the soup, its fieriness is tamed. Feel free to add less or more paste depending on your tolerance. Freeze any extra harissa in an ice cube tray and use cubes as needed.

Ingredients

2 medium red peppers
1 tsp (5 mL) harissa paste
2 tbsp (30 mL) olive oil
1 1/2 cups (375 mL) onion, finely chopped
1/2 cup (125 mL) celery, finely chopped
2 tbsp (30 mL) garlic, finely chopped
1/2 tsp (2 mL) cumin seeds
2 tsp (10 mL) smoked paprika
4 cups (1 L) vegetable or chicken stock
1 tbsp (15 mL) fresh thyme, finely chopped
1 can (540 mL) chickpeas, drained and rinsed
2 cups (500 mL) peeled and finely diced
sweet potato
3 tbsp (45 mL) tahini paste
Plain kefir or yogurt to drizzle for garnish
(optional)

Preparation

1 On a hot grill or under a broiler, roast
peppers until charred on all sides. Let cool,
peel off skin and discard seeds. Slice roasted
peppers into strips and toss together with
harissa in a small bowl. Set aside.
2 In a large pot, heat olive oil over medium-
high heat. Add onions and celery, and cook
for 10 minutes. Stir in garlic, cumin seeds and
smoked paprika, and cook for 1 minute.
3 Add stock to the pot along with thyme,
chickpeas, sweet potato and tahini paste.
4 Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer over
low heat for 25 minutes.
5 Ladle soup into four bowls and garnish with
harissa roasted peppers and a drizzle of kefir
or yogurt.