Moroccon Style Chickpea Soup topped w/Spicy Harissa

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup cooked Chickpeas or Garbanzo Beans

3-4 cups of Chicken Stock (or Vegetable Stock)

1 small Onion

4 cloves of Garlic

6-8 Ripe Cherry Tomatoes

1/2 tsp Saffron threads

1/2 tsp Roasted & Ground Cumin Seeds

less than 1/4 tsp Cayenne Pepper

1/4 tsp Black Pepper

1/2 tsp Salt

2 tablespoon Olive Oil (extra for garnish at the time of serving)

1/2 tsp or less Harissa Sauce ( garnish on top at the time of serving)

1 tablespoon fresh Lemon Juice + Lemon wedges

1/4 cup chopped Cilantro

1/4 cup chopped Parsley

♣

METHOD:

Heat oil in a medim deep pot. Saute chopped onions & garlic until translucent. Add & Saute Cumin powder, Saffron threads, Salt, Black & Cayenne Pepper. Add the chopped up Cherry Tomatoes & Saute for few minutes. Now add the chickpeas along with the Chicken stock. Mix well and let the soup simmer on medium low heat for 30 minutes. Add chopped Cilantro, Parsley & lemon juice and let it simmer for 10 more minutes. At this point you can use a hand held blender to pulverize the chickpeas but still keep it chunky for texture. At this point if you feel the soup too thick then you can add more Chicken stock or water to dilute it a little. Serve the soup  in a bowl, dollop on the Harissa sauce, Olive Oil & chopped Cilantro for Garnish. I like to serve on the side a Middle Eastern Flat Bread which has Zaa’tar & dried Mint topping! Delicious!