New Year Noodle Soup
Author: 
Recipe type: Entree
Cuisine: Persian
 
Adapted from 101 Cookbooks (originally Greg and Lucy Malouf)
Ingredients
  • 2 T olive oil
  • 1 large onion, thinly sliced
  • 4-6 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 long red chili OR green serrano, finely chopped, 0ptional (I left out)
  • ½ teaspoon ground turmeric
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • approx. 8 cups (see my notes above re: bean broth) chicken or vegetable stock, low sodium if using commercial
  • 100g /3.5 oz yellow split peas
  • handful or 2 of red lentils, to thicken broth
  • 1½ cups cooked chickpeas, rinsed if using canned
  • 2 cups/350g cooked yellow eye beans or borlotti beans (rinse if using canned)
  • salt to taste
  • 120 g thin egg noodles, fresh or dried (I used Chinese egg noodles)
  • 3½ oz/100g fresh spinach leaves, finely shredded
  • ½ cup chopped cilantro
  • 2 T chopped fresh dill
  • juice of one lime or lemon (I used lemon as it was what I had)
  • Toppings:
  • 1 T olive oil
  • 1 T unsalted butter
  • 1 large onion, thinly sliced (if you love caramelized onions like we do you might want to double the onion and add fat to need)
  • sour cream (or Greek yogurt)
  • additional lime or lemon juice/wedges
Instructions
  1. Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the onion and optional chile and cook until the onion is golden, about 8 minutes. Add the garlic and cook an additional 2 minutes. Add the spices and cook for another thirty seconds, then add the stock. Bring to a boil and add the split peas and lentils to the pot. Cook until the split peas are just tender, about 25 minutes (the red lentils will basically disintegrate). Stir in the cooked chickpeas and yellow eye/borlotti beans. Once the beans have heated throughout, season with salt to taste. Add more cumin if you think it needs it (I like a lot of cumin).
  2. In the meantime, begin preparing the toppings. Heat the olive oil and butter in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the onion with a pinch of salt, stirring occasionally, until dark and caramelized, about 15 minutes. Sprinkle a bit more salt to taste. Set aside.
  3. I prefer to cook the noodles separately so I can add them to the leftovers separately. If you prefer drop them into the pot about 10 minutes before serving dinner. Otherwise cook them separately in salted water until al dente. Drain and ladle into bowls before serving.
  4. Right before serving, stir the spinach, cilantro and dill into the pot. Add a big squeeze of lime or lemon to the pot or serve wedges along with each bowl of soup. Taste and adjust the seasoning to your liking.
  5. Serve right away over noodles, each bowl topped with a big spoonful of caramelized onions and some sour cream (we also used Greek yogurt one night and it was wonderful too).
Recipe by The Spiced Life at https://www.thespicedlife.com/new-year-noodle-soup/