← Nouns Cooking · Moroccan

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp Olive oil
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 4 cloves Garlic, minced
• 500 g lamb or beef, cut into small cubes
• 2 Carrot, diced
• 2 Potato, peeled and diced
• 2 celery sticks, diced
• 1 green pepper, diced
• 1 red pepper, diced
• 1 Courgette (zucchini), diced
• 2 Tomato, diced
• 2 tbsp Tomato purée (paste)
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp Paprika
• ½ tsp Ground turmeric
• ½ tsp Cayenne pepper
• ½ tsp ground cinnamon
• ½ tsp Ground coriander
• 1½ tsp Salt
• ½ tsp Black pepper
• 1.75 l Water
• 150 g green peas (fresh or frozen)
• 1 can chickpeas (400 g can), drained
• 100 g small pasta (orzo or broken macaroni)
• 2 tbsp chopped parsley or coriander, to serve

Method

1. Warm the oil in a large pot over medium heat and cook the onion and garlic for 5 min until soft and fragrant.
2. Add the meat and cook for 5–8 min, stirring, until browned all over.
3. Add the carrots, potatoes, celery, peppers and courgette, then the tomatoes, tomato paste, all the spices, salt and pepper. Stir for 2 min to coat everything.
4. Pour in enough water to cover well, bring to the boil, then cover and simmer gently for 1 hour, until the meat is tender.
5. Add the peas, chickpeas and pasta and simmer for 10–12 min more, stirring now and then, until the pasta is cooked.
6. Taste for salt and pepper, ladle into bowls and scatter with the herbs. Serve with crusty bread and lemon wedges.

Tips

• Contains wheat (pasta). For a vegetarian sharba, leave out the meat and simmer the vegetables for 30 min only.
• It thickens overnight; add water or stock when reheating.

Sources

Adapted from “Sharba Libya (Libyan Soup)” in the Wikibooks Cookbook, under CC BY-SA 4.0. This adaptation is shared under the same licence.