Moroccan Harira

A very aromatic, flavourful, hearty soup. One of my personal favourites. Make sure you get good quality lamb and you'll fall in love with this dish.

• Oil/butter, for frying
• 500g of diced lamb
• 1 chopped onion
• 3 tbsp of fresh coriander, plus extra for garnish
• 3 tbsp of fresh parsley
• 1/2 tsp of ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp of ground turmeric
• 1 tsp of ground cinnamon
• Salt and pepper (to taste)
• 400g can of chopped tomatoes
• 75g of green lentils
• 400g (240g drained) can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 75g of vermicelli
• 2 egg yolks
• Juice of ½ lemon

1. Fry off the lamb on a bit of oil or butter (or a mixture of both) in a pan, until it’s browned. Make sure not to overcrowd the pan – you may need to do it in batches. Once done, transfer to a large soup pot.
2. In the same pan (you may need to add some more oil), gloss the onions and transfer them to the soup pot together with the meat.
3. Add coriander, parsley and the spices. Mix and fry for a couple of minutes on low heat, stirring constantly to make sure the spices don’t burn.

4. Add the tomatoes, mix and cook together for about 5 minutes.
5. Add enough water to cover everything and simmer for about an hour.
6. Add more water again (about 1l), and add the lentils. Cook for further 30 min.
7. Add the chickpeas and cook until they’re soft (15-20ish minutes).
8. Add the vermicelli. Cook for 5 minutes (or however long it tells you to cook them on the packet). 9. If the soup is too thick at this point, add more water again.
10. Whisk the egg yolks and about half of the lemon juice together. Pour into the soup as it’s simmering, mixing constantly, and immediately take off the heat. Mix through until the yolk is fully incorporated into the soup.
11. Taste it and season/add the rest of the lemon juice if necessary.
12. Serve with a sprinkling of fresh coriander.