← Nouns Cooking · Lebanese & Turkish

Ingredients

• 3 tbsp Olive oil
• 1 large onion, diced
• 4 cloves Garlic, chopped
• 1 tsp Ground turmeric
• 150 g green or brown lentils, rinsed
• 2 l vegetable stock or water
• 1 can chickpeas (400 g can), drained
• 1 can kidney or pinto beans (400 g can), drained
• 60 g Parsley, chopped
• 60 g Coriander (cilantro), chopped
• 4 Spring onion, chopped
• 300 g Spinach, chopped
• 200 g Reshteh (Persian noodles) or linguine
• 1½ tsp Salt
• ½ tsp Black pepper
• 150 g kashk (fermented whey), or sour cream or thick yogurt
• 4 tbsp neutral oil
• 2 Onion, thinly sliced, for crispy onions
• 2 tbsp Dried mint

Method

1. Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat and fry the diced onion for 8 min until golden. Add the garlic and turmeric for 1 minute.
2. Add the lentils and stock, bring to the boil, then simmer for 25 min until the lentils are almost tender.
3. Stir in the chickpeas, beans, parsley, coriander, spring onions and spinach. Season and simmer for 20 min, stirring now and then.
4. Meanwhile, fry the sliced onions in the neutral oil over medium heat for 12–15 min until deep golden and crisp. Lift them out, take the pan off the heat and stir the dried mint into the hot oil for 30 seconds.
5. Break the noodles into the soup and simmer for 10–12 min, stirring often so they do not stick, until tender. Add a splash of water if it gets too thick; it should be like a hearty stew.
6. Stir a few spoonfuls of kashk into the pot, then ladle into bowls and top each with more kashk, crispy onions and a drizzle of mint oil.

Tips

• Reshteh are salted Persian noodles; linguine broken in half is a good stand-in.
• Kashk is salty, so taste before adding more salt.

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

Cooking with Ayeh Unicorns in the Kitchen