HARIRA

Today we will travel to the North of Africa. Harira is a delicious soup/stew, similar in a way to the Spanish Cocido but in fact, closer to a soup than to a stew. It should be cooked with lamb but you can use beef if you want. It can also be made without meat. The results are also delicious. This recipe is for a pressure cooker. An easy and convenient way to cook it. And good. Try. You’ll see.

Ingredients:

1 cup chickpeas

½ cup lentils

½ chopped onion

1 chopped carrot

½ cup chopped celery

1 clove of garlic, chopped

½ pound lamb, cut in not very small pieces

Some extra virgin olive oil

8 oz crushed tomatoes

1 tablespoon parsley

1 tablespoon cilantro

Some salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

½ teaspoon turmeric

½ teaspoon powdered ginger

A pinch of powdered cinnamon

A pinch of saffron

Some flour

1 egg, beaten

Some fine pasta, like fideo or vermicelli

The first thing to do is soaking chickpeas and lentils on water overnight.

The next day put some oil in the pressure cooker. When it is hot, add the lamb and sear it for about three minutes. Then add the vegetables, cut and prepared previously (onion, carrot, celery and garlic). Add the chickpeas and lentils to the cooker too. Add the crushed tomatoes but reserve one tablespoon more or less. Then add the parsley, the cilantro, the spices and the saffron. Add some salt and pepper to taste. Let it cook for about two minutes and then cover everything with water. Close the pressure cooker and follow the instructions for your cooker. With my cooker, I wait till it starts steeming and then I have it cooking for 20 minutes at a lower fire.

In the meantime, mix half a cup of hot water with a tablespoon of flour and the tablespoon of crushed tomatoes we had reserved.

When you can open the cooker, add the vermicelli, the mixture with the flour and the beaten egg. Go on cooking at a low fire. The Harira will be finished while the pasta is being cooked.

And then it will be ready. A wonderful dish. Harira. Serve hot. Enjoy!

**more pics**