Lamb and chickpea soup with griddled bread

ingredients

• • 50 gram dried chickpeas, soaked overnight in cold water
  • 50 gram dried black-eyed peas (also called black-eyed beans), soaked overnight in cold water
  • 80 gram burghul
  • 800 gram lamb shoulder, fat trimmed, cut into 2-3cm cubes
  • 1 red onion, diced
  • 1 large carrot, peeled and diced
  • 1 stalk celery, diced
  • 1 red capsicum, deseeded and diced
  • 500 gram canned chopped tomatoes
  • 2 tablespoon tomato paste
  • 1.5 litre chicken stock
  • 2 teaspoon ground coriander
  • 2 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon chilli flakes
  • 4-6 small red chillies

• To serve

  • 4 handfuls baby spinach
  • picked coriander leaves
  • 100 gram pomegranate seeds (optional)
  • 2-3 tbsp sliced almonds, lightly toasted (see recipe tip)
  • 1-2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • Turkish flatbread, toasted on griddle or in grill pan

method

• • 1

    Preheat oven to 180°C. Drain soaked chickpeas and black-eyed peas then rinse in cold water. Place in a saucepan, cover with plenty of cold water and bring to the boil then simmer for about 30 minutes until tender. Drain and reserve liquid. Place cooked pulses in a casserole dish.

  • 2

    Add the burghul, diced lamb, red onion, carrot, celery and capsicum, canned tomatoes, tomato paste, chicken stock and spices. Pour over enough of the reserved cooking liquid from the pulses to cover all ingredients (reserve the rest).

  • 3

    Cover casserole with a tight-fitting lid and bake for about 1½ hours or until meat is tender. Check soup after 1 hour of cooking and add more reserved cooking liquid if needed; also add whole chillies.

  • 4

    To serve, bring a small saucepan of salted water to the boil, blanch spinach for 5 seconds and drain well. Arrange blanched spinach on top of soup in the casserole and scatter with coriander leaves, pomegranate seeds (if using) and toasted almonds. Drizzle with the olive oil and serve with toasted Turkish bread on the side.

notes

• Serves 4-6. - To toast sliced almonds, spread on a baking tray lined with baking paper and toast in a 180°C oven for 6-8 minutes or until golden; watch closely so they don’t burn.