Persian Ashe Reshtah

Photo: flickr user The Gifted Photographer

Ingredients

1/4 cup red kidney beans, soaked

1/4 cup navy beans, soaked

1/4 cup chickpeas, soaked

3 onions, finely sliced

3 tablespoons oil

2 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 teaspoon turmeric

10 cups water

1/2 cup lentils

1 cup beef broth

1/2 cup chives or scallions, coarsely chopped

1/2 cup dill weed, chopped

1/2 cup parsley, coarsely chopped

2 cups spinach (fresh or frozen), chopped

1 beet, peeled and chopped in 1/2 inch pieces

1/2 pound flat egg noodles or Persian noodles(Reshteh)

1 tablespoon flour

1 cup liquid kashke or sour cream (or ¼ cup wine 1/4 pound beef, in ½ inch cubes

1 small onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, crushed

2 tablespoons oil

1/2 cup water

2 tablespoons yellow split peas

1 teaspoon tomato paste

1/4 teaspoon saffron, dissolved in 1 Tbsp. hot water

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 onion, finely sliced

3 cloves garlic, crushed

1 tablespoon oil

1 teaspoon dried mint flakes

Preparation

In large pot, brown onions in oil. Add salt, 1/4 tsp. of the pepper, and turmeric. Pour in water and add kidney beans. navy beans, and chickpeas.

Cover and simmer 45 minutes. Add lentils and broth. Cook 35 minutes.

Add scallions, dill, parsley, spinach, and beet. Stir occasionally and cook 20 minutes or until done. Correct seasoning(add the rest of the pepper if needed) and add more water if too thick. Add noodles, flour and cook until noodles are done-about 10 minutes.

If using kashke or sour cream, set aside a heaping Tbsp. for garnish.

Stir 2 Tbsp. of soup into remaining sour cream. Stir this mixture slowly into soup. Reheat just before serving, adding more water if it's too thick.

About 1/2 hour before serving, prepare gheimeh garnish. Brown meat, onion, and garlic in oil. Stir in water and split peas. Cover and cook 20 minutes over low heat. Add tomato paste, saffron, and salt. Simmer covered for 10 minutes.

While gheimeh is simmering, prepare mint garnish. Brown onion and garlic in oil. Remove from heat. Crush mint flakes in hand and stir into onion.

Pour soup into tureen, garnish with gheimeh and mint garnish and reserved sour cream by floating them on top.

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About

This is a Persian recipe, but is similar to the Afghan aush. 'Ash-e' means soup in Farsi. Persian noodles (Reshteh) are available in Middle Eastern food shops. Liquid kashke (whey) is available, but the quality isn't always good, so sour cream is preferable. Making the soup a day ahead of serving allows the flavors to better combine.