Meatball soup with sweet potatoes and chickpeas is cooked with one of the traditional Moroccan spice mixes – Ras-el-Hanout. Usually, it includes cinnamon, ginger, turmeric, coriander, cumin, cloves, pepper, nutmeg, cardamom, fennel, saffron. In general, the number of ingredients in ras-el-hanout, according to various sources, can reach a hundred.
This meatball soup is especially good on the second or third day, when all tastes unite into a single bright melody.
Ingredients:
- Large sweet potato (or equal piece of pumpkin) – 1 pcs.
- Chickpeas – 1 can
- Onion – 1 pcs.
- Carrots – 2 pcs.
- Red bell pepper – 1 pcs.
- Small noodles – 4 tbsp.
- Vegetable broth or water – 2 liters
- Ras-el-Hanout spices – 2 tbsp.
- Grated lemon peel – 1 tsp.
- Brown sugar – 1 tbsp.
- Olive oil – 2 tbsp.
- Salt – a pinch
- Cilantro – 1-2 sprigs
For meatballs:
- Minced meat from chicken breasts – 200 g
- Cilantro – 3-4 sprigs
- Green onions – 3-4 feathers
- Salt – a pinch
- Ground Black Pepper – a pinch
- Olive oil – 1 tbsp.
Ras-el-Hanut:
- Cinnamon – 2 tsp.
- Ground cumin seeds – 1 ½ tbsp.
- Ground coriander seeds – ¾ tbsp.
- Ginger powder – ¾ tbsp.
- Turmeric – 2 tsp.
- Ground red pepper – 1 tsp.
Meatball Soup – Preparation:
- Prepare a mix of spices by mixing all the ingredients. For soup you need 2 tablespoons, the rest can be stored in a closed dry jar.
- Peel vegetables for soup and cut them: sweet potatoes or pumpkin – cubes, carrots – circles, red pepper – small cubes, chop the onion finely.
- Drain the liquid from chickpeas and rinse it with cold water.
- Fry the onions in preheated olive oil until it becomes transparent, add bell pepper and cook 1 minute.
- Add ras-el-hanout, mix, and after one minute remove from heat.
- Boil broth or water in a saucepan, add sweet potato, carrots, fried onions and peppers.
- Cook over medium heat for 5 minutes, add sugar, salt, chickpeas, shallow noodles, grated lemon zest.
- Stew another 20 minutes.
- Make meatballs. Mix chicken mince with finely chopped green onions, cilantro, pepper and, salt.
- Heat olive oil in a frying pan.
- With wet hands, make small meatballs from minced meat and fry them on all sides for 3-4 minutes.
- 5 minutes before the soup is become cooked, put the fried meatballs into it.
- Taste the soup and, if necessary, add salt or spices.
- Serve meatball soup with chopped cilantro.
