Ash Reshteh

Ingredients

• 100g green or brown lentils
• 1 x 400g tin chickpeas, drained
• 1 x 400g tin red kidney beans, drained
• 2 large onions, 1 chopped and 1 thinly sliced
• 5 tbsp sunflower oil, divided
• 1 tsp ground turmeric
• 2 litres water or vegetable stock
• 100g fresh flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
• 100g fresh coriander, finely chopped
• 100g spinach, finely chopped
• 100g spring onions, finely chopped
• 30g fresh dill, finely chopped
• 150g reshteh (Persian noodles), or linguine broken into 8cm pieces
• 2 tbsp dried mint
• 100ml liquid kashk, plus extra to serve
• Salt and black pepper

Method

1. Heat 2 tbsp oil in a large pot and fry the chopped onion for 8 minutes. Stir in the turmeric, lentils and water. Bring to the boil and simmer for 20 minutes.

2. Add the chickpeas, kidney beans, parsley, coriander, spinach, spring onions and dill with 1 tsp salt. Simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

3. Meanwhile, fry the sliced onion in 2 tbsp oil for 20 minutes until deep golden and crisp at the edges. Set aside.

4. Add the noodles to the soup and cook for 10-12 minutes until tender, stirring often to prevent sticking. Add water if the soup is too thick.

5. Stir in half the kashk and half the fried onion. Season with pepper and adjust the salt.

6. Warm the remaining oil, remove from the heat and stir in the mint. Serve the soup topped with kashk, fried onion and mint oil.