Ottolenghi's Legume (Noodle) Soup for Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammie) Sundays

I am not sure how long ago I pinned this Yotam Ottolenghi recipe from The Kitchn, but it must have been a few years ago at least. I kept getting ready to make it and then putting it off due to the number of ingredients/steps because as I frequently admit, I am a lazy cook and don't like a lot of fuss. But, finally my procrastination is over and I tackled the Legume (Noodle) Soup today with a couple of minor changes to make it easier.

Rather than separately soak and cook two kinds of beans, I bought dried garbanzo beans and frozen baby lima beans to add in with the split peas. Because I didn't want to journey to Whole Foods or a natural foods store, I swapped in split green peas for the yellow split peas called for in the recipe. And finally, because I forgot to reserve some of the onion mixture for topping, I used fried garlic-pepper onions I keep on hand. It all still worked beautifully and the soup is well worth the extra fuss.

Ottolenghi says, "The soup is directly inspired by a Persian soup called ash-e reshteh. As he says, it is the Iranian answer to minestrone. It calls for reshteh noodles, which he notes can be found at Iranian grocery stores, but it’s fine to substitute linguine. And, he notes, “as suggested by the parentheses in the recipe name, you can dispense with the noodles altogether if you like. There is plenty going on, body-wise, without them.”'

Legume (Noodle) Soup
Slightly Adapted from Yotam Ottolenghi via TheKitchn.com
(Serves 8)
  

2/3 cup dried chickpeas, soaked in water overnight with 2 tablespoons baking soda

2/3 cup dried lima beans, soaked in water overnight with 1 tablespoon baking soda

5 1/2 Tbsp clarified butter

2 large yellow onions, thinly sliced (4 cups)

10 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

1 1/2 tsp ground turmeric

1 rounded cup yellow split peas

8 1/2 cups vegetable stock

about 1 cup flat-leaf parsley leaves, chopped

about 2 cups cilantro leaves, chopped

1 cup dill leaves, chopped

rounded 1 cup thinly sliced green onions, white and green parts

5 cups baby spinach leaves

3 1/2 oz reshtesh or linguini

2/3 cup sour cream, plus 1 teaspoon per portion to finish

1 1/2 Tbsp white wine vinegar

4 limes, halved

salt and black pepper

Drain and rinse the chickpeas and lima beans and place them in 2 separate saucepans with plenty of water. Place over medium heat, bring to a simmer, and cook until just tender. This should take anywhere between 20 and 40 minutes. Drain and set aside.

Put the butter, onions, and garlic in a large pan and place over medium heat. Cook for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until soft and golden brown. Stir in the turmeric, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and some black pepper and remove one-third of this mix from the pan to use later.

Add the chickpeas and lima beans to the pan, then add the split peas and stock. Simmer for about 35 minutes, skimming the froth occasionally, until the peas are tender.

Add the herbs, green onions, and spinach, stir well, and cook for another 15 minutes; add more stock or water if the soup is very thick. Add the noodles and cook for about 10 minutes, until they are just done. Stir in the sour cream and vinegar and serve at once, garnished with 1 teaspoon of sour cream per portion and the reserved cooked onion. Serve lime halves to squeeze over each portion.

Notes/Results: This soup's flavors make it work the extra effort of chopping and cooking that it takes to get it onto the table. The different textures of the beans and peas and pasta are excellent and along with the pasta make it completely satisfying without being heavy. The flavor of the herbs combined with the tang of the vinegar, lime juice and sour cream make it interesting and it is a good way to get some healthy foods into your body. I don't think my changes in using the frozen limas and green peas made a difference in taste and I look forward to bringing it to lunch in my cold office this week. I'm glad I finally tried it and would happily make it again.

 
Linking up with I Heart Cooking Clubs where the theme is Procrastinator's Special where we make recipes we have been putting off.

 Let's look into the Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammie) Sundays Kitchen and see who is here.

Judee of Gluten Free A-Z Blog shared a Very Easy Gazpacho and said, "The end of summer is the perfect time to make tomato gazpacho when the local farmer's markets are overflowing with ripe fresh tomatoes, red peppers, and cucumbers! ... It's very easy to make and can be made up to 2 days in advance. It's simple enough to whip up any night of the week with dinner, or fancy enough to serve guests for brunch! It is naturally gluten free and dairy free which makes it allergy friendly."

 
Claudia of Honey From Rock brought another cold soup, a classic Perfect Cold Borscht for Hot Weather and said, "This is the time of year when cold soups come into their own, and yes, it's still hot here.  I was very happy with the way this version of Borscht turned out.  I've tried others, good too.  There are probably as many variations of this soup as there are nostalgic emigres around"

Tina of Squirrel Head Manor went the hot soup route with me this week making Fish Chowder with Cobia and Peas. She said, "We are so very luck to know someone who loves to fish. The fish he gives us is fresh from the gulf of Mexico, usually only 3 days old at the most. This past week we were given Mangrove snapper which Doug grilled, and Cobia which I tossed into a chowder. I've been fussing about losing a bit of weight so a nice chowder for lunch was a good start."

 
And here at Kahakai Kitchen, I made a simple Russian Tomato-Cucumber-Onion Salad this week to pair with a recent book review. Very simple and dressed with dill and sour cream, it went beautifully with some local opah (a mild white fish) for an easy dinner. 

 
Thanks to Judee, Claudia and Tina for joining in this week!

About Souper Sundays:

Souper Sundays (going since 2008) now has a format of a picture link each week where anyone interested can post their soups, salads, or sandwiches at any time during the week and I post a recap of the entries the following week.

(If you aren't familiar with Souper Sundays, you can read about of the origins of it here. 
If you would like to join in Souper (Soup, Salad, and Sammie) Sundays, I would love to have you! Here's how...

To join in this week's Souper Sunday's linkup with your soup, salad or sandwich:

• Link up your soup (stew, chili, soupy curries, etc. are fine), salad, or sandwich dish, (preferably one from the current week or month--but we'll take older posts too) on the picture link below and leave a comment on this post so I am sure not to miss you. Also please see below for what to do on your blog post that you link up to Souper Sundays in order to be included in the weekly round-up.

and 

On your entry post (on your blog):

• Mention Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammies) Sundays at Kahakai Kitchen and add a link back to this post. (Not to be a pain but it's polite and only fair to link back to events you link up at--so if you link a post up here without linking back to this post or my blog on your post, it will be removed.)
• You are welcome to add the Souper Sundays logo to your post and/or blog (completely optional).

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Have a happy, healthy week!