Moroccan Minestrone
serves 6-8
Recipe from Domenica Marchetti
Serve this colorful vegetable soup with warm whole-wheat pitas, or chunks of crusty whole-grain bread. Read more about this recipe on the Cookthink blog.
ingredients
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 1/2 cups red onion, chopped
3 medium carrots, cut into 1/4-inch dice (1 rounded cup)
3 medium celery ribs, with leaves, finely chopped (3/4 cup)
1 small fennel bulb, finely chopped (3/4 cup)
1 medium baking potato, cut into 1/4-inch dice
1 medium zucchini, cut into 1/4-inch dice
3 tablespoons minced cilantro
3 tablespoons minced parsley
1 tablespoon sweet Hungarian paprika
1 1/2 teaspoons finely crushed caraway seeds
1/2 teaspoon crushed saffron threads
1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
1 pinch cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon kosher or sea salt
2 cups canned diced tomatoes, with their juice
6 cups vegetable broth
1 cup red lentils, rinsed and drained
1 to 1 1/4-cups broken vermicelli pasta
timer
prep: 20 minutes
total: 1 hour 5 minutes
tools
Dutch oven
ladle
instructions
1. Warm the olive in a large Dutch oven or other heavy-bottomed sauce pot placed over medium heat. Add the onions and toss to coat them thoroughly. Sauté the onions until they begin to soften and turn translucent, 6 to 7 minutes.
2. Stir in the carrots, celery, fennel, potato and zucchini, and 2 tablespoons each of cilantro and parsley. Mix everything together thoroughly, and then add the paprika, caraway seeds, saffron, coriander, cayenne pepper and salt. Stir to combine. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook 5 minutes, stirring frequently to prevent the spices from burning. Raise the heat to medium and stir in the tomatoes. Bring the mixture to a simmer, reduce the heat to medium-low and cover partially. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are just tender, 20 to 25 minutes.
3. Pour in the vegetable broth and the lentils. Raise the heat to medium-high and bring the soup to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover partially and simmer gently for 20 minutes, until the lentils are tender. Raise the heat once more to medium-high and stir in the vermicelli. Boil the soup for 5 minutes, or until the vermicelli are tender. Turn off the heat, cover, and let the soup rest for a few minutes.
4. To serve, ladle the soup into shallow rimmed bowls and garnish with a sprinkle of the remaining cilantro and parsley.
