Spicy soup with moghrabieah

By AlexG

Ingredients

• 1 large onion, diced fine
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 5-6 carrots, diced into chunks
• 3 T tomato paste
• 2 oz black olives, chopped
• 1 cup moghrabieh
• 8 cups water/broth
• 1 tsp harissa
• 2 tsp cumin powder
• 2 tsp za'tar
• juice of 1 lemon
• salt, pepper as needed
• chopped parsley for garnish

Details

Adapted from forkspoonnknife.com

Preparation

Step 1

Heat 1/4 cup of olive oil in the soup pot. Saute the onions and garlic until translucent. Add tomato paste and cook for a couple of minutes. Stir in the olives, and carrots. Add all the spice elements and season with salt and pepper. Let them cook for a few minutes.

Add the water and bring to a rolling boil. Lower the heat and let the mixture simmer, covered for 30 to 45 minutes to allow the flavors to meld together. At this point the soup would have reduced to about half the volume. Add the moghrabieh and continue cooking on low until the couscous has plumped up and cooked through. If the soup becomes too thick add water or broth and bring back to a boil. Off the heat, stir in the lemon juice.

This soup tastes better with time as the flavors develop deeper. So i recommend having it for dinner if you make it in the morning. Overnight resting would be perfect!