John Stephens of Otley England's Mill Kitchen makes a Moroccan Chickpea Soup which was the inspiration for this variation. The sweet and the tart flavours blend beautifully with our Ras el Hanout creating a soup which would be equally at home on a cold winter night or at a fancy dinner party.
Ingredients:
2 tbsp olive oil
3 medium onions finely chopped
2 cloves garlic crushed
8 tsp Ras el Hanout
2 tbsp tomato paste
150g dried apricots chopped
zest of 1/2 a lemon
juice of 1 small lemon
6 cups vegetable stock (or water plus 2 veggie flavour cubes)
1-19 oz can chickpeas
1 large bunch spinach (200g), stemmed and shredded
salt to taste (1/2 tsp)
For garnish:
whole yogurt and fresh mint leaves
Method:
Heat oil and cook onions gently at low heat in a covered soup pot until translucent but not browned. Add garlic, Ras el Hanout and continue cooking stirring constantly for a minute. Stir in tomato paste and cook for 3 minutes more. Add apricots, lemon zest & juice, chick peas and stock. Cover and simmer for about 20 minutes until cooked.
Cool soup slightly, pour into blender and blend until smooth. Return to saucepan, reheat to low simmer, add spinach and stir in until it wilts (approximately 5 minutes).
Garish each bowl with a swirl of yogurt and 1 or 2 coarsely chopped mint leaves.