Harira, North-African split pea soup with mint

Harira is probably thé national soup of Morocco. Many of our dishes are inspired by Moroccan and North African cuisine so this dish naturally could not be absent. Our version is prepared with split peas, but traditionally harira is made with chick peas and lentils.

Serves 4 people

• 350 g green split peas, washed
• 1,6 l water
• 2 bay leaves
• 50 ml olive oil
• 1 medium-sized onion, finely chopped
• ½ carrot, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 2 tbsp. cumin powder
• 1 tsp. ground coriander seed
• ½ tsp. cayenne pepper
• 40 gr tomato paste
• 3 vine tomatoes, skinned and diced
• 1 bell pepper, roasted, skinned and diced
• 10 sprigs mint, the leaves finely chopped
• 15 sprigs flat parsley, finely chopped
• ½ lime, juice
• sea salt
• —
• coriander

Bring the split peas to a boil with the water and 1⁄2 teaspoon sea salt. Remove the foam with a spoon and add the bay leaves. Cook for about 45 minutes on low heat until the split peas are done. Drain them and save the cooking water. Heat the olive oil in a large pan, add the onion, carrot, garlic and a pinch of sea salt and fry for about 10 minutes. Add the cumin, coriander seed and cayenne pepper and stir fry for a minute.

Cut a cross in the bottom of each vine tomato, dip them in boiling water, pull their skin off and cut them into cubes. Put them in a large pan together with the tomato paste and the boiled split peas. Add the saved cooking water and add extra tap water if necessary until fully covered. Stir in the roasted pepper and fresh herbs near the end of the cooking time and set the soup aside for 20 minutes. Season the soup with lime juice and sea salt and serve with coriander.