Ash Reshteh (Persian Noodle Soup)
A traditional Persian soup recipe, modernized for simplifying ingredients but super delicious nonetheless. A healthy, nourishing combination of spinach, beans + chunky chickpeas, minimally spiced with salt, pepper and turmeric. Vegetable stock + abundant fresh herbs of cilantro, parsley, dill, chives, scallions, and mint give loads of robust flavor—chewy strands of linguine and whipped sour cream relay additional texture layers. Fried onions + crushed fenugreek leaves create a flavored oil that enhances this Ash Reshteh soup into the culinary realms of spectacular-a recipe you will cherish every winter season and possibly all year round!
Servings: 10
Ingredients
Beans
- 29 oz chickpeas *all canned beans drained and rinsed well
- 15 oz navy beans
- 15 oz kidney beans
Herbs
- 1 bunch cilantro *all herbs rinsed, stemmed and chopped
- 1 bunch parsley
- 1 bunch dill
- 1 bunch chives
- 1 bunch scallions
- 1 bunch mint leaves
Spices
- 1½ tsp Kosher salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- ½ tsp turmeric
Other Ingredients
- 5 tbsp olive oil
- 1 large yellow onion *Vidalia onions for sweetness, chopped
- 5 cloves garlic *finely minced
- 2.5 quarts vegetable stock
- 16 oz fresh spinach leaves *roughly chopped
- 8 oz linguine *fresh, if possible, strands cut in half
- 1 cup sour cream *whisked in ladle of simmering soup liquid
For Topping
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 large yellow onion *thinly sliced
- 1 tsp dried Fenugreek leaves *hand crushed to release flavors
- ¼ tsp dried mint leaves *hand crushed to release flavors
- pinch sea salt
Instructions
- Heat olive oil in large Dutch oven pot on medium heat. Once oil is hot, add chopped onions and sauté onions for 10 minutes until light golden. Add pinch of salt and minced garlic, mix well and continue to cook for 5-7 minutes.
- Once garlic is golden and aromatic, turn heat to medium low and add chopped spinach and all chopped herbs (cilantro, dill, parsley, mint, chives and scallions). Mix to combine, add Kosher salt, black pepper and turmeric. Mix well. Add vegetable stock, stir, bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 2-3 minutes. Now add all rinsed, drained beans and stir to combine. Bring to boil again and then let soup simmer on low heat for one hour, pot partly covered with lid. *Note, as soup thickens, you can add more vegetable stock, as needed, to maintain desired consistency.
- In a glass mixing bowl, add sour cream and one ladle of hot soup and whisk until creamy and smooth. Add half of mixture to simmering soup, stir well to combine and add cut linguine (you can add a splash of vegetable stock here, as needed). Stir to combine, bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium low and let simmer for a final 15 minutes. Set aside remaining half of whisked sour cream + soup broth mixture (keshk) to use as topping when serving.
For Fried Onion Topping
- While soup is simmering, prepare fried onion topping. In a large skillet, heat 2 tbsp olive oil. Add sliced onions + a pinch of sea salt and fry on medium heat until golden brown (8-10 minutes), mixing as needed. Turn heat to medium low and add crushed dried mint + fenugreek leaves. Stir to combine and sauté for 1-2 minutes until aromatic. Add fried onions topping to simmering soup, gently stir to combine, reserving some of the fried onions mixture to garnish.
- Piping hot, creamy, smooth, chunky and chewy Ash Reshteh soup is now ready to serve. Garnish with some chives and a spoon of the reserved fried onion mixture + sour cream keshk and enjoy! Nosh Farma'aiye.