Lablabi (adapted from a Milk Street recipe)

This is one of the best tasting and easiest things I make. If you don't want to buy harissa you can make your own pretty easily and keep the cost down. The measurements don't need to be precise at all, so I only translated to metric using numbers I thought I could multiply in my head. Let me know if I made a mistake.

Ingredients

For cooking

3-5 quarts water or veggie stock (4-6 L)

2 cups dried chickpeas (0.5 L)

Kosher salt and ground black pepper (to taste)

5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil (75 mL)

1 large yellow onion, chopped

6 garlic cloves, minced

2 tablespoons tomato paste (30 mL)

2 tablespoons ground cumin, toasted (30 mL)

6 tablespoons harissa (90 mL)

2 tablespoons lemon juice (30 mL)

For Toppings

8 ounces (250 g) crusty bread (stale works), sliced 1/2-inch-thick (1cm)and torn into bite-size pieces

2 tablespoons lemon juice (30 mL)

Extra-virgin olive oil

Harissa

2 tablespoons ground cumin, toasted (30 mL)

1/2 cup drained capers (120 mL)

1/2 cup chopped pitted green olives (120 mL)

1/2 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves (120 mL)

1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro (120 mL)

Lemon wedges

Method

Cook olive oil, onion, garlic cloves, tomato paste, ground cumin, harissa, salt, and black pepper in a pot on medium until the onions soften. Add chickpeas and water/stock and cook until the beans are done - 1 hr or so. Reduce or add water until it is as thick as you want it. I like it as a very thick stew. Stir in lemon juice once everything is cooked and remove from heat.

Toss bread cubes in olive oil and toast on stove or in oven. Remove when toasted but before they get hard. Or use them untoasted if, like me, you don't want to wash another dish.

To serve put some bread cubes in a bowl and laddle the stew over them. Add the toppings in the ingredient list.

The stew portion freezes well, so you can scale the recipe up if you want some for next week too.