Aash-e Reshte

I was intrigued by a comforting Persian soup and looked at different versions of the recipe. Aash-e Reshte is a healthy, flavorful soup. It's filled with aromatic herbs, warming spices, hearty beans, and delicious noodles. My version also includes meatballs, but I saw some recipes that were strictly vegetarian, too.

While my Aash-e Reshte uses canned beans and dry pasta, I added in my homemade chicken stock and home-canned heirloom tomato sauce.

Ingredients

Soup

• 6 cups chicken stock

• 4 cups water

• ½ cup dried lentils, soaked in warm water for at least 10 minutes

• 1 pint tomato sauce

• 1/2 package dry linguine pasta, broken into half

• 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

• 1 can dark red kidney beans, drained and rinsed

• 1 can pinto beans, drained and rinsed

• freshly ground salt, to taste

• freshly ground pepper, to taste

• 1 teaspoon ground ginger

• 1 teaspoon ground cumin

• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

• 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric

Meatballs

• 1 pound ground beef

• 3 to 4 cloves garlic, peeled and pressed

• 1 teaspoon ground ginger

• 1 teaspoon ground cumin

• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

• 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric

Garnish

• 2 Tablespoons olive oil

• 2 onions, peeled and thinly sliced

• 3 to 4 cloves garlic, peeled and pressed

• 2 tomatoes

• 1/2 cup fresh parsley, destemmed and chopped

• 1/2 cup fresh cilantro, destemmed and chopped

• 2 Tablespoons fresh chives, chopped

• fresahly ground salt, to taste

• freshly ground pepper, to taste

Procedure

Meatballs

Combine all of the ingredients in a mixing bowl. Shape into 1/2" to 1" meatballs and set aside.

Soup

Pour chicken stock and water into a large soup pot. Bring to a boil. Add lentils to boiling liquid and simmer for 5 minutes. Pour in tomato sauce, then, gently drop meatballs into the soup. Simmer until the meatballs are cooked through, approximately 15 to 20 minutes.

Add in the drained beans and spices. Stir in the pasta and cook according to the package directions. Mine took 10 minutes to cook.

Garnish

While the pasta cooks, make your garnish. Core and dice the tomatoes. In a skillet, heat olive oil. Stir in onions and garlic. Cook until the onions are softened and beginning to turn translucent.

Add in the tomatoes and cook until the tomatoes begin to lose their shape. Stir in the fresh herbs. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Set aside.

The Aash-e Reshte is ready once the noodles are cooked through. To serve, ladle beans, pasta, and meatballs into individual bowls.