Persian New Year Noodle Soup (Ash Reshteh)
An amazing Persian New Year Noodle Soup (Ash Reshteh) inspired by a version in Greg & Lucy Malouf's beautiful book, Saraban. At its core, this is a celebratory bean and noodle soup featuring thin egg noodles swimming in a fragrant broth spiced with turmeric, cumin, chiles, and black pepper. Loaded with spinach and herbs, you serve it topped with walnuts, caramelized onions, and a dollop of something creamy. It’s amazing.
I started cooking Persian New Year Noodle Soup (Ash Reshteh or Ash-e Reshteh) regularly sometime around 2010. Kate, a friend (and longtime reader of the site), told me the bookshop she works at (in Australia) hosted Greg & Lucy Malouf as they were promoting their book Saraban: A Chef's Journey Through Persia. She told me to look for the book in the U.S. because she suspected I would enjoy it. Kate knows her cookbooks. I quickly tracked down the book and this, the Ash Reshteh (New Year Noodle Soup), was the first thing I cooked from it. Completely blown away, I was convinced it was the best thing to come out of my kitchen in years, and I’ve cooked it dozens of times since.
Ash Reshteh (Persian New Year Noodle Soup): The Details
Traditionally, this is a preparation associated with Persian New Year (Nowruz) but there is a long list of reasons I like to make it more often. In Persian culture, the new year is an opportune time to wrangle the “threads” in your life, and to set intentions and direction for the year ahead. That’s where the noodles come into play here. At its core this is a fortifying, nutrient-dense bean and noodle soup featuring thin egg noodles swimming in a fragrant broth spiced with turmeric, cumin, fresh chile, and black pepper. You use a medley of lentils, chickpeas, and cranberry beans to create a soup that is hearty and filling without being heavy. You add spinach, dill, and cilantro. You add lime juice for a bit of sour at the end. And then you prepare a number of toppings to add when you serve the soup - chopped walnuts, deeply caramelized onions, and sour cream (kashk). It's a formidable ingredient list, but results in hearty bowls of, arguably, one of the world’s great soups.
The Ingredients:
A few notes related to shopping for ingredients.
- Beans & Lentils: There are three types in this soup: borlotti (or cranberry beans), chickpeas, and lentils. They all have different cooking times which can be a bit of a pain. If I don’t have any beans pre-cooked in my freezer, I cook the cranberry beans from scratch, use canned chickpeas, and cook the lentils with the soup broth because they’re relatively quick to cook. I’m definitely a hard pass on canned lentils.
- Stock/Broth: For this recipe I like to use water plus 2 tablespoons of this homemade bouillon powder to make my broth. Or you could do it with whatever bouillon you keep on hand. In general, stay clear of carton vegetable broths that have a lot of tomato or assertive vegetable flavors. You’re probably better off with water and can make adjustments from there if needed.
- Noodles: I’ve played around with a range of noodles here over the years. I love to use thin-ish egg noodles, but the Persian grocer near me only stocks a generic sampling of spaghetti and vermicelli, so that’s where we landed the last time around. Andy Baraghani uses linguine in his wonderful version.
Persian New Year Noodle Soup: The Game Plan
Making Ash Reshteh can be relatively low lift if you do a bit of pre-planning. Making a couple of the components ahead of time, mostly passively, helps everything come together smoothly.
- Make Ahead: Beans - The next time you cook borlotti or cranberry beans, make double and freeze them in sandwich-sized baggies. Same goes for chickpeas. Although, I tend to just grab a can of those off the shelf for this soup. The day you want to make this soup, you’re ready to go with fully cooked beans. Check.
- Make Ahead: Caramelized Onions - Make the caramelized onions up to a few days prior. In fact, make triple the amount if you’re up for it. That way you have special onions to top the soup, AND pizza, pasta, or whatever sandwiches you might be throwing together. Keep the a jar in your refrigerator and bring up to room temperature before serving, so you’re not putting a cold topping on a hot soup.
- Make Ahead Walnuts: Toast the walnuts up to a few days ahead of time.
Leftovers:
There are rarely leftover noodles, but usually there is enough broth, beans and lentils for great leftovers. I love to serve it over rice for lunch - loaded with toppings, of course!
Further Reading & Other Versions of Ash Reshteh:
Some of my favorite meals over the past few decade have been Persian or Persian-inspired. I love the abundant use of herbs, and color, and texture all rooted in traditional preparations. At one point I signed up, on a whim, for a brunch hosted by Komaaj in San Francisco, this was years ago. The food explored the ingredients and flavors of Northern Iran. It was regional Iranian, the menu happened to be vegetarian, and every bite was special. If you are interested in taking a deeper dive, or other versions of Ash Reshteh, here are a few suggestions.
- Andy Baraghani is one of the most intuitive cooks I know. He has a fantastic version of Ash Reshteh as well as a fully herb-loaded Kuku Sabzi, and a master guide to making Chelo ba Tahdig, in his book, The Cook You Want To Be.
- Cooking in Iran: Regional Recipes & Kitchen Secrets by Najmieh Batmanglij - this book is an incredible 700+ page document exploring the home cooks and regional cooking of Iran. It’s an exceptional culinary journey to inspire every home cook and anyone curious about Persian cuisine.
- Saraban: A Chef’s Journey Through Persia
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Persian New Year Noodle Soup (Ash Reshteh)
The version of this recipe in Saraban is made with chicken stock, but I make it with water and 2 tablespoons of bouillon powder, you might use 2 cubes of your favorite bouillon, and it’s wonderful. On the bean front, if you don't have beans that have already been cooked you can use canned ones. The original recipe calls for fresh borlotti beans, which are rarely in season when I cook this. And, on the noodle front, I usually can’t help but add more than what the recipe calls for, so, adjust to your liking. Even when it seems like too much, they always manage to get slurped up.
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 onion, thinly sliced
- 1 long red chili OR green serrano chile, finely chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 8 1/2 cups / 2 liters good-tasting vegetable stock/broth or water
- 100 g / 3.5 oz French lentils, green lentils, yellow split peas or brown lentils
- one 14-ounce can chickpeas, or equivalent from dried, rinse if using canned
- 2 cups / 350g cooked cranberry beans or borlotti beans
- 2 teaspoons fine grain sea salt, or to taste
- 120 g thin egg noodles, linguine, or spaghetti, fresh or dried
- 3 1/2 oz / 100g / one large bundle fresh spinach leaves, trimmed and finely shredded
- 1/2 cup finely chopped cilantro leaves
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
- juice of one lime, plus more to tasted
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1 large onion, thinly sliced
- 1/2 cup sour cream, creme fraiche, full fat yogurt or liquid kashk
- 50 g / scant 2 ounces of toasted, chopped walnuts
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Heat the oil in a large, thick-bottomed soup pot over medium heat. Add the onion and the chile and cook until they soften, 8 minutes or so. Add the spices and cook for another thirty seconds, just long enough for them to toast a bit, then stir in the broth/stock. Bring to a boil and add the lentils (or split peas) to the pot. Cook until they are just tender, about 25 minutes. Stir in the cooked chickpeas and cranberry (or borlotti) beans and the salt. Bring to a simmer.
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In the meantime, prepare the toppings. Heat the olive oil and butter in a large frying pan over medium heat along with a couple big pinches of salt. Cook the onion, stirring occasionally, until golden and deeply caramelized (see above photos for color reference), 8 - 10+ minutes. Set aside with the sour cream and chopped walnuts.
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A few minutes before you're ready to eat, add the noodles to the simmering soup and cook until al dente. Stir in the spinach, and cilantro and dill. Add a big squeeze of lime to the pot or serve wedges along with each bowl of soup. Taste and adjust the seasoning to your liking, adding more salt if needed.
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Serve right away, each bowl topped with a big spoonful of caramelized onions, some sour cream, and a sprinkling of walnuts.
Serves about 4.
Inspired and adapted over the years from the Ash-e Reshteh / New Year Noodle Soup recipe in Saraban, by Greg & Lucy Malouf (Hardie Grant, 2010)
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Comments
This is the kind of recipe that I want to drop everything and make right now. Sadly I am headed out of town this weekend, but this is going to be on the menu next week for sure. Looks delish. Love soup and beans and this is different from anything I’ve made.
Hi Heidi,
I’m new to your blog and I love it. I had to let you know that I made this soup this week and it was wonderful! I accidentally dumped the entire bag of noodles in it, though, so mine was more like a pasta dish than a soup. 🙂 Either way it was delicious and perfect for the icy/snowy weather we’ve had in Charlotte this week. Thanks so much for sharing!
This was great! To top it I used sour cream, avocado, and those roasted cherry tomatoes that you used to top the tortilla soup. Thank you!
Just made this last night! Incredible!!!! A new favorite for sure! Thanks for sharing 🙂 Aloha!
i have been stalking your website for months and have loved everything i’ve tried! i started by swapping coconut oil for the olive oil and once the turmeric went in the aroma wafting from the pot was infectious! i did end up throwing in a dash of curry as well and some extra veg stock as my noodles were a bit thicker than the ones in your pic… holy tasty delightful dinner with some well toasted multigrain bread! thank you!
looks incredible!
I made this soup tonight. It is perfect for the snowy, cold, winter day we had in Chicago today. This is a great soup and one that I will be making again. Thanks for sharing your recipe.
ABSOLUTELY WONDERFUL! So different, comforting, and tasty. I made this for the first time for guests and really had no idea what it would be like. When we sat down to eat, I had to contain myself from tooting my own horn! Everyone at the table couldn’t get enough of it. The toppings were perfect!
Thank you, thank you for bringing this recipe into my life! I will check out the cookbook!
Heidi,
(As over-abused as the expression is…) O.M.G.
I expected this soup to be tasty… but it turned out to be delicious! I used udon noodles and it worked great. Thank you for this wonderful recipe!
Cheers,
Praj
Made this soup last night for dinner, IT WAS AMAZING! all the flavors work so well together!
a must try for everyone!
One of my new year’s resolutions is to cook more. I spent the last semester switching off between pizza and Chinese or just not eating at all. So I decided to try this because it didn’t sound too complex and it was interesting… I definitely didn’t do everything right, I couldn’t find the right noodles and I fretted over how to properly shred spinach, but despite my mistakes, I was so happy when it came out tasting good. It’s a wonderful recipe that can take a little fouling up and still taste wonderful. Thank you for your blog.
Happy new year! What a great recipe – I can’t wait to try it this week! I feel like you could also make it without the noodles and turn it more into a stew – I might experiment with that and see how it turns out. Thanks again for such awesome recipes with fun combinations of ingredients!
It took me a while to find the right beans but this is by far my families favorite! I’ll be making this early fall through winter. Just fabulous! thank you for sharing with us all!
I’m with Lisa, soooooo delicious. Just made the soup and feel so warm and cozy inside right now. The Creme Fraiche really helped to make this soup. Thank you for making me love cooking. Your recipes always introduce me to new ingredients. SO FUN!!!
this was soso good. just last night my sister asked if fiancee and i would make meat dishes for people when they visit. i answered i didn’t think there’d be a need, and this soup is proof. thanks for post on the book, too. can’t wait to have a copy on my shelves. congrats!
this recipe is awesome!! so delicious and perfect for a cold night! the greens and the onions/walnuts/creme fraiche brightened it right up. yum!
This is exactly the pick-me-up recipe I’ve been looking for. I get so burnt out with my pesky habit of always topping soups with cheese- your toppings are always so creative and delicious! Keep em coming 😉
Just made this for dinner. Like every single recipe I’ve ever made from 101cookbooks, it was incredible. I experimented by adding a touch of soy sauce to my second bowl (so good, I had to go back for seconds!) and, as I suspected, it complimented the broth very well. Heidi Swanson, I’ve fallen in love with cooking ever since I stumbled upon your blog last year. You’re the best 🙂
This soup is fantastic. I have to admit I wasn’t sure about the ingredients, and had to use what was on hand- white beans rather than chickpeas/borlotti, a red onion instead of white, no chiles, and I didn’t add the topping (though I did add a splash of cream at the end). I almost left out the dill (I used 1/3 as much, dried) but am glad I didn’t. Even with all those changes, this was a great soup, full of texture and flavor. Thank you!
Hi Heidi,
I just wanted to report that we had this soup this evening and it was delicious (especially the dill).
I used sliced pointed cabbage as I couldn’t get hold of spinach, and natural yogurt rather than sour cream. Both of these worked really well.
Just made this today – it was wonderful and I can’t wait to eat leftovers tomorrow! The dollop of sour cream on top was just the right touch. So so so good!
I love your blog! And this soup – amazing!! My husband was excited because of the turmeric. Even tastier the next day. Thanks!
Omg! This soup was very good! My family enjoyed it. Thanks!
This looks delicious! I can’t wait to make it. I am accumulating all my soup recipes at the moment.
I am new to your blog. I appreciate you mindfulness and balance between sweets and healthy choices. I look forward to reading your archives.
HS: Thanks Jeffrey, I do my best to strike some sort of reasonable balance 🙂
I just made this soup tonight and it really was wonderful. Lovely depth of flavors. The toppings really enhanced the soup, even my 8 year old son tried them all and loved it. Thanks for all the delicious recipes.
I just made this soup and it is incredible!! Thanks for a great recipe. I will definitely be making it again in the weeks to come!!
this looks delicious. What a perfect warm meal, with not too many calories for the cold months! Love it. thanks for sharing.
How did you freeze the borlotti beans?
Can your method be used for other types of beans as well?
I just drain them well after cooking, double bag, and freeze them. I freeze lots of different beans this way. Grains too – farro, brown rice, wild rice, etc.
I like the tumeric addition…makes me think of nice warm thoughts!
Made this DELICIOUS soup today.The tempature here is 22C so you don’t have to have cold weather to enjoy this soup!! l substituted cooked lima beans from the freezer instead of bertolli beans, and used greek yoghurt instead of sour cream! Thanks Heide thouroughly love all your recipes even though our seasons are reversed in Australia. Keep up the great work and hope you are feeling much better.
HS: Hi Mila, thanks for the nice note. I’ve started categorizing recipes by season after a few notes from S. Hemisphere readers. If you look in the left-hand column under the ingredient list, you should see winter, spring, summer, fall. This way you can look for summer-inspired recipes even if it is winter where I am. Hope this helps a bit.
Looks incredible.
Thanks for sharing- I often find that vegetarian soups are either thick & creamy or full of large vegetables and tomato-y.
This seems like a vegetarian’s answer to chicken noodle soup- would adding matzah balls be overkill? Or delicious?
HS: Let us know if you try it Jess, maybe in place of the noodles?
Made it for dinner and loved it. Used beans from Rancho Gordo for maximum flavor and freshness. Yum! Thanks for a great recipe for these cold, foggy days.
So many recipes from this site are now favorites I cook over and over. But I’m having an increasingly hard time following the newer recipes, where ingredient amounts are often given only in grams and ounces. If you could *please* include the measurements in cups I would be so grateful! (And eliminating the guess-work involved in grams and ounces would no doubt make my productions taste better!)
HS: Thanks S. Yes, I’ll try to keep that in mind.
I have been enjoying soup – and a variety of other items – from the crock pot a lot recently. I love how adaptable soup is. I made a delicious minestrone-like soup this weekend. I wasn’t sure about it when I got started (as that wasn’t the originally intended final product), but it turned out great.
Seeing chickpeas in the soup makes me want to make the “Moroccan Chickpea Stew” recipe I got off the food network several years back.
Happy New Year, Heidi! Thank you for creating this site/community, love your books and site (especially the soup recipes). My new year’s resolution is to participate in 101 Cookbooks Library more! I have too many cookbooks not too 😉
This is my favorite kind of food, deeply aromatic, soothing and simple! We followed your recipe, and added some spicy roasted chickpeas for additional crunch and heat. Beautiful bowl of noodle soup!
I love noodle soups in general, and when I saw the photo of this dish I knew I had to make it. I followed the recipe to the T and it was FANTASTIC! I never would have thought to combine cilantro and dill together, but the flavors work together perfectly. Don’t skip the toppings! I thought at first the caramelized onions on top of an already onion-heavy soup would be too much, but the sweet flavor of the caramelized onions adds a wonderful depth to the soup. The sour cream provides a touch of richness to an otherwise really low-fat and delicious dish. This is definitely a keeper recipe for me. Thank you Heidi!!
HS: So glad you liked it Tracy. Totally agree with you re: the caramelized onions. They take the soup over the top.
Heidi,
I’ve been a huge fan for years, but never commented. This is my first and its to say thanks. Thank you for all your inspiration in the kitchen. I actually wrote a post about you on my site. I hope you enjoy it. I wish I could do you and your work justice!
SO glad you’re enjoying the soups. And thanks for the nice words on your site. I suspect there will be plenty of new soups to come in the new year 😉
This soup was great for a new year as I used it to clear out some of the old year’s supplies like dried garbanzos and peas and chard leaves instead of spinach, all from our garden, and two different kinds of stocks saved months ago in the freezer. I used yoghurt at the end and am draining some to try the whey with the leftovers tomorrow night. Definitely don’t skip the toasted walnut and carmelized onions on top. Fantastic! The husband liked it, too. Thanks Heidi. Hope you’re on the mend by now.
I was so amused by the name of this dish that I had to make it. It looks and tastes amazing! I sent you a link on facebook to the picture of my version! I hope you’re proud 🙂
HS: Thanks Sunita, I’ll look for your note.
Happy new year to you and yours Heidi! Thanks for your wonderful blog. Tried this last night and it was wonderful even though I used brocolli instead of spinach and added chicken thighs instead of the beans (I kept the lentils however). Naughty girl I know but it was still very very tasty. Looking forward to the left overs for lunch as i type! Yummy!
Oh my god! One of my good friends is Persian and makes this incredible soup, but she doesn’t know what any of the ingredients are called in English to teach me to make it! Can’t wait to try yours…
made this soup tonight for dinner…it’s delicious! thanks so much for sharing 🙂
This soup looks wonderful, and so comforting! You can’t go wrong with all of those beans and especially the onions!
i’ve made the soup today, partly because its name seemed to be appropriate for this time of the year 😉 but also because it looked delicious and sounded interesting! and i’m glad i did – it was lovely! i did skip some ingredients (borlotti beans and cilantro) and add some others (ground ginger to the broth, sesame seeds as a topping) – still delicious! thanks so much for sharing another wonderful recipe and i can’t wait to see more of them both here on the site and the upcoming book! x
I’m running to the kitchen to make this with blackeyed peas and either dried dill or fresh cilantro right now.
mmmmmmmmmmmmm…
this is seriously good stuff. I added a little of the frozen spinach, too.
I am so excited for this! I have a cold and my soup-hating husband (who hates soup?!) is away, so I can enjoy the big pot with no guilt!
This soup looks fantastic! All the best in 2011!
What a tasty looking soup! I am going to try this recipe out tonight.
This soup looks perfect!
I love this delicious foods. I love to eat and I think this would be a great recipe for 2011.
Happy new year everyone!!!
LOOKS FANTASTIC!! Will be making this tonight!!
A perfect light dish but with lots of protein. Thanks for a good recipe. I like the natural and vegetarian approach taken on this site. I enjoy food and cooking but have to apply a healthy/vego filter to everything. Thanks.
I’d be interested in hearing if anybody adapts this recipe for the slow cooker. Thanks for any tips on procedure or timing!
This soup is incredible! i made it yesterday and thought it would take longer/be more difficult than it was. Time spent totally pays off–with interest! Thank you, Heidi–hope you are well on the road back to health!
Beans are one thing I want to get into eating more of. It’s one of my new year’s goals actually. So this soup is perfect timing!
I just got another book by Greg and Lucy Malouf – Saha: A Chef’s Journey Through Lebanon and Syria. I had checked it out from the library and couldn’t stop thinking about it after I returned it, so I finally bought it. Looking forward to making this soup and many more of their wonderful recipes – it’s a stunning book.
this sounds absolutely perfect. dinner tonight cannot come soon enough 🙂
i hope you all enjoy this soup and the new year as much as i know i will.
Happy New Year, Heidi!
Made this tonight, using all Roman beans. It was SO delicious! I will definitely be making it again. Thank you!
I just made this soup and all the toppings are ready! Can’t wait to have it in a few minutes. I substituted kidney beans for the borlotti beans. I didn’t have turmeric so I hope it turns out ok anyway!
Heidi, your book and recipes started a food evolution for me 3 yrs. ago. It started with a gift of your book from a dear friend. I began with your sushi bowl (with some influence from Cafe Gratitude) onto your Yellow Split Pea, Wild Rice and Lively Lentil soup recipes. I put more ‘condiments’ (avocado, nuts/seeds, yogurt, sprouts, sauerkraut, marinated garlic, more) on rice and soup dishes now that they are masterpieces full of yummy sour/sweet/savory/creamy textures and tastes at every turn.
I just wanted to send HUGE appreciation your way!
I knew I’d have to make this soup the moment I saw it go up: I’ve got a nice, steaming half-bowlful next to me right now and it’s delicious. (I ended up using kale instead of spinach, since it’s what I had on hand — but yum.)
I think this one’s a keeper, thank you!
Hope you feel better soon! This soup looks like the perfect cure to whatever ails you!
This soup sounds fantastic! It involves many of the spices I’ve been trying to incorporate more into my cooking the last few months (turmeric, cumin) as well as the borlotti beans that my husband is obsessed with. We happen to have most of the ingredients on hand so I am looking forward to trying it this week!
Lovely and interesting soup! Had it for dinner this evening with fresh baked Irish soda bread. Yum! This may become a tradition–Happy New Year!
thanks for this recipe! a light and healthy counterbalance to my new years feasting. here’s to another delicious year and even more creativity in the kitchen in 2011…
This looks fantastic! Can’t wait to try it! I’ve really enjoyed your blog and the many recipes you’ve shared. I split a family-size CSA box with three other girls this year – and I knew I could always count on finding new and interesting recipes to use for all those farm-fresh veggies! Thanks for sharing, Heidi! Here’s to a happy and healthy 2011!
This looks like a wonderfully warming soup. Perfect for chilly Jan nights. I love the long slurpy noodles and hearty beans.
Happy New Year to you Heidi and thanks for doing this blog … eight years is a real commitment, and thanks again!
My substitutes for this recipe included canned tomatoes, canned black beans, goat milk, as I have goats and freeze the milk for winter use, and broken spaghetti. Mint oil sounds great!
Je vais adorer cette soupe !
Merci pour toutes vos jolies recettes, anciennes et futures. Je vous souhaite une merveilleuse année 2011 !
And if my english is not too bad … ;o)
I’ll love this soup !
Thank you for all your lovely recipes, past and future.And happy new year 2011 !
Just got back home last night after a long road trip and found your wonderful soup recipe… so, even if I did not prepare the exact recipe, this morning I heated up some broth, added noodles, some cilantro and spinach I just happened to have in the fridge and guess what… here in the South we have to have blackeye peas for good luck every New Year…. squirted some lime juice and it was great. Can’t wait to make the complete recipe as written. Thank you, get well soon… I absolutely love your good food choices. May in Atlanta, GA
HS: Way to improvise May!
This soup looks incredible and filled with such interesting ingredients.
I can’t wait to see what 2011 has in store.
Heidi~ I love your site and look forward to more yumminess in 2011
Have a Healthy New Year!
Lisa
xo
Hi Heidi! I love your site and your recipes. I’ve tried many of them and they are all inspiring and tasty.
You have also inspired me to start my own blog site about cooking, (mushadoaboutrecipesandtips.blogspot.com), which corresponds to my cookbook, (muchadoaboutmuffins), which is in the publishing process. =)
I would love to have you visit my new site and give me a jingle, even though I do write about meat! I still love vegetarian meals however and plan to include them in my repertoire on my blog.
Thanks for the good stuff!
Heidi, I wish you a happy, healthy and safe new year!
Nisrine
Happy New Year Heidi!
Your blog was the very first food blog I started reading. It was my senior year of college and I had fallen head over hills in love with cooking. You’ve inspired me tremendously, and now I even have my own blog, and I’m following my dream of having a career in food!
One of my resolutions is to take my blog to the next level in 2011 (more readers, better photos, lovely words). Another is to choose to be happy everyday. I think that’s possible as long as I’m cooking 🙂
I hope you feel better.
Best wishes for 2011!
Yum, this sounds great for this extremely cold weather we are having. I’m going to make some tomorrow. It should please everyone in the family. Happy New Year! Here’s to a healthy and prosperous 2011.
Happy New Year. This looks just perfect. Thank goodness it is back to routine eating after all the treats. This looks like the perfect way to kick off the new year.
Feel better soon!
this looks so healthy and delicious, and i would expect no less from you! happy new year, heidi. i love your blog.
Looks delicious. I am going to have to put this on my list of recipes to try. Of course, the true test, is how the 4 and 6 year old like it. 🙂 I know I will….
Oh this soup looks so full of great ingredients!
The soup looks very comforting. Perfect for a cold winter. I also promised myself to add new vegetables and grains to my menu.
Best wishes.
THANK YOU so much for posting this. I haven’t commented before, but I really appreciate your recipes. My husband and I made a similar soup five years ago and then left the cookbook in an apartment and haven’t sought out the recipe. What a great soup/memory. I look forward to trying it again.
Hi Heidi, I’ve been reading you blog for a good year now but haven’t ever commented! Just wanted to say I love your site and this recipe looks so good I’m popping out to the shops now to buy the ingredients for dinner! Thanks for the many inspirations!
This soup looks perfectly comforting.
I love your use of tumeric in this soup, as I’m trying to find tasty ways to add this anti-inflammatory to my diet. I added tumeric to an apple cake and although the taste was not affected the cake had an unpleasant yellow cast. Your soup looks lovely.
Get well soon.
Renee
Sounds yummy! And what a beautiful bowl it’s in, I love it.
I am Persian and grew up eating this soup although we eat it in the winter time mostly because it is so rich and heavy. If you can find liquid whey from a middle eastern grocery, I highly suggest you use it i/o sour cream or creme fraiche, which gives it a more pungent flavour (and is the authentic ingredient). My family also sauteed dried mint in oil and poured that on top.
HS: Thanks for the suggestion Marjan, and the sauteed dried mint oil sounds outstanding.
This recipe looks divine, can’t wait to try it. I love Greg and Lucy – I have Arabesque and love it. Does Kate work at Books for Cooks? I’m from Melbourne too..
Hope you’re feeling better soon.
HS: She does! Say hi for me if you see her on your next visit.
Yum. Chickpeas + Noodles = Win. Sounds delicious. I’m putting it on my “to cook” list. Thanks!
This looks like a terrific noodle soup to kick the year off with. I like the heartiness of the different beans with the array of savory spices.
I’m really looking forward to your travel posts. You always bring back such amazing photos.
The flavor combination for this soup sounds awesome. Happy New Year!
Yum! I can’t wait for winter to try this one! (we’re in New Zealand, but originally from San Fran and San Luis Obispo!) I may have to make it sooner than later!
Happy New Year
This sounds awesome!! I am thinking it’s a “to do” this week in the windy city 🙂
One of my goals for this year is to express more appreciation to bloggers whose work I get so much from. Another is to make more “whole-meal” soups and this one is going right on the list. Thanks and looking forward to sharing your adventures and more great recipes.
There is not a better way to begin the New Year than with a bowl of a healthy homemade soup. Thank you Heidi.
Made this for dinner tonight. I didn’t have the creme fraiche or walnuts, and yet it was utterly delicious. Thanks for the recipe.
This soup looks delicious! If I use dried garbanzos and borlottis, how much should I use? I can never properly work out the correct amount of dried vs. cooked…
HS: Hi Janice, the recipe is pretty flexible and forgiving. You can add to your liking really. But to answer your question, start with just over 1/2 the amount of cooked. So if you want roughly a cup of cooked beans, cook 1/2-ish cup dried, and go from there.
Heidi-
Your past two recipes have left me wishing we were next door neighbors! We’re very much on the same food wave-length lately…this looks so wonderful. I love that it can stand on its own as a meal. Happy, happy New Year (I’m with you on the tip-toeing)
This is one of the best recipes I’ve seen from you, Heidi. Such a perfect soup for this chilly weather we’re having in Manhattan…I’m going to whip this up tomorrow! Happy New Year!
WOW, looks good! Just what I’m craving. Will try this week!
Hope you feel better soon! Happy New Year.
Happy New Year Heidi! I am so glad you are enjoying Saraban and I look forward to sharing more news and views on cookbooks and recipes with you and the rest of the Library community through 2011…….
HS: Thanks Kate! Looking forward to it as well. Happy New Year.
This sounds fantastic, Heidi! Thanks for posting. I’ve been trying to eat “Clean” the last couple of months, and I think that I may try replacing the egg noodles with brown rice noodles. It sounds like it would fit this recipe perfectly! mmmm
Happy New Year!
Your desired trip to the Pacific Northwest is the perfect time for that road trip– there’s nothing like driving up Pac Hwy in the summer.
Just curious, but could black-eyed peas work in place of some of the beans, and collard greens in place of the spinach?
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