Ash Reshteh — Persian Herb & Noodle Soup

What you’ll need

Ingredients

Ingredient amounts make 6 servings. Nutrition below is for one serving.

• 200 g Canned chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 200 g Canned kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 200 g Cooked lentils, drained
• 150 g Dry reshteh noodles (wheat)
• 250 g Fresh spinach, chopped
• 100 g Fresh parsley, chopped
• 100 g Fresh coriander, chopped
• 50 g Leek or spring onion greens, chopped
• 300 g Onion, thinly sliced
• 15 g Garlic, minced
• 30 g Vegetable oil, divided
• 150 g Pasteurized ready-to-use liquid kashk
• 2 tsp Dried mint
• 1 tsp Ground turmeric
• 1600 ml Water, plus extra as needed
• Black pepper and salt only if needed

Make it

Instructions

1. 1

   Wash and chop the fresh herbs. Rinse and drain the canned chickpeas and kidney beans; this recipe uses fully cooked legumes, not raw dried beans.

2. 2

   Cook the onions in 25 g oil over medium-low heat for 15–20 minutes until golden. Reserve a third for topping. Add garlic and turmeric to the pot and stir for 1 minute.

3. 3

   Add the herbs and 1600 ml water. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 20 minutes with the lid partly open.

4. 4

   Add the cooked chickpeas, kidney beans and lentils and simmer for 15 minutes. Stir in the noodles and cook gently for 10–15 minutes, or according to the packet, stirring to prevent sticking.

5. 5

   Stir in 100 g kashk and a little hot water if too thick. Heat through according to the kashk label. Taste before adding salt because both noodles and kashk can be salty.

6. 6

   Warm the dried mint in the last 5 g oil for just 15–20 seconds, then remove from the heat. Warm the remaining 50 g kashk according to its label. Divide the soup into six bowls and share the onion, mint and kashk toppings evenly.