Hooray for Harissa (and Soup)!

This holiday I was the lucky recipient of some fabulous cookbooks.  As I unwrapped these gems I promised myself I would take advantage of my gifts and add new recipes to my weekly repertoire. Last weekend I woke up on a mission and I can report to all of you:  mission complete.  I chose the cookbook Plenty More and ipped through, cover to cover, trying to decide which recipe(s) to try first.  I chose three and made them all.  This spicy chickpea soup with bulgur and feta paste was my favorite; my once mates (and husband) will attest that it is delicious!

NOTE:  The recipe below has been slightly adapted from the original recipe in the book.

Spicy Chickpea Soup with Bulgur

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, cut into -inch dice
4 cloves garlic, crushed
2 large carrots, peeled and cut into -inch dice
4 celery stalks, cut into -inch dice
2 tablespoons harissa paste, or to taste
1 ½ teaspoons freshly ground cumin
1 ½ teaspoons freshly ground coriander
2 teaspoons whole caraway seeds
2 ½ cups drained cooked chickpeas (canned are fine)
4 cups vegetable stock
1 cup dry white wine
¾ cup coarse bulgur wheat
salt and black pepper

Feta Paste:
3 ½ ounces feta cheese, broken into large chunks
¼ cup crème fraîche (you can easily use Greek yogurt instead)
1 cup cilantro leaves, coarsely chopped
½ cup mint leaves
Salt

Directions:
Heat the oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and sauté for 5 minutes, stirring from time to time, until translucent. Add the garlic, carrots, and celery and continue cooking for another 8 minutes. Add the harissa, cumin, coriander, and caraway seeds and cook for a further 2 minutes, stirring well. Gently stir the chickpeas into the vegetable mixture you don’t want them to break down along with salt and plenty of black pepper. Add the stock and bring to a boil. Turn down the heat and simmer gently for 10 minutes or until veggies are cooked through.

Meanwhile, rinse the bulgur, put in a small saucepan, and cover generously with cold water. Bring to a boil and cook  for 5 to 10 minutes, until tender. Immediately remove from the heat. Drain, refresh under cold water, drain again and set aside.

To make the feta paste, put the feta, crème fraîche, cilantro, mint, and teaspoon salt in the bowl of a small food processor and blitz for a couple of minutes, until a smooth, creamy paste forms.  (You can make this ahead and keep in the fridge until needed.)

Before serving, add the cooked bulgur to the soup and bring to a gentle simmer. Divide the soup among bowls, add a spoonful of feta paste to each bowl, and serve at once.

-Rachel