Lentil, garlic and pasta soup
SERVES 4 // PREP TIME 5 MINS // COOK 45-50 MINUTES
“This is a peasant dish from a time when people needed to create hearty, yet affordable meals,” says Kassis. “In the Middle East, beans and legumes were often the protein of choice over expensive and harder to source meat. Ample flavour made up for the lack of meat, and the flavours here are very satisfying. Top it with parsley and sumac or lemon juice to make it more flavourful.”
125 ml (½ cup) olive oil
1 onion, finely diced
225 gm lentils (green or brown),
picked over and rinsed
1 tsp ground cumin
200 gm dried tagliatelle or linguine, broken into
3-5cm lengths (see note) 5-6 garlic cloves, crushed Chopped flat-leaf parsley and sumac or lemon juice (optional), to serve
1 Pour half the olive oil into a casserole, add onion and cook over medium-high heat, stirring regularly, until onions have softened and are starting to crisp at the edges (6-8 minutes).
2 Add lentils, cumin, and
¼ tsp black pepper and toss to combine. Pour in 1.5L water, add 1 tsp salt and bring to a boil, then partially cover pan and reduce heat to maintain a gentle simmer. Cook until lentils are tender but still hold their shape (20-30 minutes, depending on variety).
3 Once lentils are cooked, add pasta, increasing the heat to reach a vigorous simmer, and cook, covered until pasta is al dente (10-15 minutes).
4 Meanwhile, heat remaining olive oil in a small frying pan, add garlic and stir until fragrant and light golden, taking care not to burn it because it will make it bitter (about 3 minutes). Stir garlic and oil into soup.
5 If the consistency is too thick, add 1 cup water and bring to a boil. If it’s too thin, cook the soup until some liquid evaporates. You want a consistency similar to bean soup – not so thin it falls off the spoon but not so thick it feels like pudding.
6 Serve soup sprinkled with parsley and topped with sumac or lemon juice.
Note Traditionally this dish is made with a dough of flour, water and salt rolled out thinly then rolled onto itself and sliced into short fettuccine or linguinelike strips. I substitute dried linguine (any small pasta shape will work), which I break into short pieces. I also use fresh pasta for an almost identical result to the original version, chopping it into strips and throwing it in, keeping in mind it requires less cooking, about 3 minutes.