Authentic Moroccan Lentil Soup Recipes

Steps:

• Heat 1/4 cup olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Cook and stir carrots, onion, salt, parsley, black pepper, ginger, tarragon, and cumin in the hot oil until the onion is translucent, 5 to 7 minutes.
• Stir lentils and tomatoes into the carrot mixture. Pour vegetable broth over the vegetables, stir, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, place a cover on the pot, and simmer until the lentils are tender, 45 to 50 minutes.
• Stir spinach and zucchini into the broth mixture; simmer until the zucchini is tender, about 7 minutes more. Remove pot from heat and season soup with salt. Drizzle 1 teaspoon olive oil over the soup before serving.

Steps:

• In large pot saute; the onions, garlic, and ginger in a little olive oil for about 5 minutes.
• Add the water, lentils, chick peas, white kidney beans, diced tomatoes, carrots, celery, garam masala, cardamom, cayenne pepper and cumin. Bring to a boil for a few minutes then simmer for 1 to 1 1/2 hours or longer, until the lentils are soft.
• Puree half the soup in a food processor or blender. Return the pureed soup to the pot, stir and enjoy!

Steps:

• Heat olive oil in Dutch oven over medium heat. Add onions and cook, stirring, 10 minutes until softened and beginning to color. Add garlic and cook one minute to release its aroma. Add celery and cook 2 minutes until softened. Add 1 teaspoon of salt, the pepper and the turmeric, cumin, ginger, cinnamon, saffron, and bay leaf and cook 2 to 3 minutes to develop the flavor of the spices. Add tomato paste, potatoes, lentils and water and cook 45 minutes; the lentils and potatoes should be quite tender. Stir in remaining 1 teaspoon salt, wheat berries and tomatoes and heat through. Taste and adjust seasoning. Serve garnished with cilantro.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly brush oil or butter on both sides of bread slices. Arrange bread in a single layer on a cookie sheet and bake 10 minutes. Remove from oven and cool croutons on a wire rack.

Steps:

• In a large soup pot, stew pot or dutch oven cook the chick peas and white beans seperately until just tender.
• Using a smaller pot, cook the lentils for 20 minutes and drain the beans and lentils.
• In the same pot, saute the onions, garlic*, ginger, paprika and cumin approximately 5 minutes in the oil. I use the olive oil for this one as the Moroccan home cooks who I know will allow this cooking of olive oil rarely and for this recipe.
• Add the water, lentils, chick peas, white beans, tomatoes, carrots, pepper and cumin, black pepper and salt to taste. Our black pepper used in a teaspoon will impart some good spicy heat to the dish. Should your black pepper not do this then please add a bit more black pepper as we do not use cayenne here.
• Bring to a boil for a 5 minutes and simmer 3/4 covered 1 to 1 1/2 hours or longer, until the beans and lentils are soft but not mushy.
• I have seen mny similar recipes on the internet stating to puree some of the soup and return it to the pot. While this is a nice idea, most Moroccan homes do not have a blender and this soup is not intended to be made as such.
• Prep. time does not include soaking and pre-cooking the beans.
• * Omit the garlic if using for Ramadan.

Steps:

• In a large (6- to 8-quart) stockpot over medium heat, combine the butter and oil and stir until the butter has melted. Add the onions, green pepper, carrots, eggplant and garlic. Stir well. Add the cumin, curry powder, allspice, cinnamon and red pepper flakes. Saute, stirring, until the vegetables have softened, about 10 minutes.
• Add water, chicken broth, sherry, tomatoes and lentils, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, and simmer, uncovered, 1 hour, or until the lentils have softened. Season with salt. To serve, garnish each bowl with a dollop of yogurt or sour cream and a sprinkling of chopped cilantro.

Steps:

• In large heavy saucepan or dutch oven, melt butter over medium heat. Stir in onion and celery and cook, covered, for 7-10 minutes or until onion is tender, stirring occasionally.
• Add cinnamon, turmeric, salt, pepper, ginger, hot pepper sauce and saffron. Cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Add tomatoes, lentils, chickpeas and broth. Bring to boil, reduce heat, and simmer, covered, for about 40 minutes or until lentils are tender.
• Stir in noodles and simmer, covered, about 7 minutes longer or until noddles are just tender. In bowl, whisk flour, and 1 cup water until smooth. Whisk flour mixture into soup and simmer, stirring often, for 2-4 minutes or until soup is thickened and no raw flour taste remains.
• Stir in half of the parsley and cilantro, and all of the lemon juice. Taste and adjust seasoning, adding up to 1/2 tsp more salt if needed. Garnish with remaining parsley and cilantro.