Marak afuna — Israeli split pea soup with cumin and smoked paprika

Method

1. Pick over the split peas, removing any small stones, and rinse in a colander under cold water until the water runs clear. Fill the kettle. Chop the onion and cut the carrots and celery into 1 cm dice. Peel the garlic: finely chop 2 cloves, thinly slice the third and halve the last. Chop the parsley.
2. Heat 20 g oil in a heavy-based 3 litre saucepan over a medium-low heat. Soften the onion, carrots and celery with 3 g salt for 7–8 minutes, stirring: the onion should be translucent and the celery soft, with no colouring. Add the chopped garlic, 3 g cumin, 2 g smoked paprika and the harissa. Stir for 30 seconds, until fragrant but not blackened.
3. Add the split peas, bay leaf, 6 g salt and 1,100 g cold water. Bring to the boil over a medium-high heat, about 8 minutes, watching carefully as the peas foam. Skim off the grey foam with a spoon, then reduce to a low heat.
4. Simmer gently for 50–65 minutes with the lid ajar, stirring every 10 minutes and scraping the bottom thoroughly. Heat the remaining 200 g water in the kettle. If the soup starts to catch or becomes thicker than a loose purée before the peas are tender, add the hot water in 50 g increments. It is ready when the peas crush easily against the side with a spoon; if they are still chalky, continue cooking in 10-minute intervals.
5. Remove the bay leaf and whisk vigorously in the saucepan for 30 seconds: the peas will break down into a smooth soup with pieces of carrot, thick enough to coat the spoon. Turn off the heat, add the lemon juice and pepper, taste and add 2–3 g salt, or more if the soup has been thinned with water: it should be thoroughly seasoned. Cover.
6. For the finishing oil, heat 15 g oil with the sliced garlic in a small frying pan over a low heat for about 1 minute, until the garlic is pale golden. Take off the heat, add 1 g cumin and 1 g smoked paprika and stir for 10 seconds: the oil will turn orange-red without burning. Toast the bread in the toaster for 2–3 minutes, until golden and crisp, immediately rub with the halved garlic clove, drizzle with the remaining 10 g oil and add a pinch of salt.
7. Divide the soup between two large bowls, loosening it with a little of the remaining hot water if it has become too thick. Drizzle the flavoured oil over each bowl, sprinkle with parsley and serve with two slices of toast per person.

Variants and their steps remain below the recipe.