Hummus

Soak chickpeas with the salt and baking soda overnight, then rinse and drain thoroughly. Optionally, while rinsing, rub chickpeas together and remove as much of the chickpea skin as possible.

In a medium-large stockpot, add chickpeas and all "boiling ingredients" (the mirepoix ingredients) and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook for approximately an hour to an hour and a half, until the chickpeas are mushy. We found that there was no need to go to the 2 hour mark as in the original recipe.

While the chickpeas simmer away, make the tahini: pour lemon juice and garlic into a blender and pulse until smooth. Drain and filter the garlic pulp from the mixture.

In the lemon/garlic juice, mix the rest of the Tahini ingredients. While stirring, the tahini sauce will seize. Add a few tablespoons of water at a time until the tahini can be easily incorporated into hummus; we want both mixtures to be a similar viscosity to do this easily. Save salting for the very end. Set aside.

Once your chickpeas are cooked and mushy, discard celery, bay leaves, and onion. While still boiling hot, carefully scoop out chickpeas, garlic, and carrot into a blender. Add cooking liquid until there is enough to rise to about 1-2 cm below the top of the chickpeas. We can always add more liquid to blend, but too much will result in a soupy mess.

*Important: while blending, take the middle cap of your blender lid off and cover with a towel instead. We don't want to trap steam!*

Pour blended chickpeas into a mixing bowl, and mix in your tahini paste. As the mixture cools down, it will begin to thicken quite substantially. If the mixture is still too tight, add your cooking liquid or water to the hummus until your texture is just right.

Season mixture to taste with salt. When serving, scoop out onto a plate, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with za'atar and paprika and flaky salt.