Moroccan harira

• Preparation and cooking time
  • Prep:15 mins
  • Cook:40 mins

• Easy

• Serves 4

This is a healthy vegetarian version of the classic Moroccan soup with plenty of cumin, turmeric and cinnamon, each offering different health benefits, plus it’s low in fat and calories too

• Healthy

• Vegetarian

Nutrition: per serving

HighlightNutrientUnit

low inkcal335

low infat6g

saturates1g

carbs48g

sugars21g

fibre13g

protein16g

salt0.2g

Ingredients

• 1-2 tbsp rapeseed oil
• 2 large onions, finely chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, chopped
• 2 tsp turmeric
• 2 tsp cumin
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• 2 red chillies, deseeded and sliced
• 500g carton passata
• 1.7l reduced-salt vegetable bouillon
• 175dried green lentils
• 2 carrots, chopped into small pieces
• 1 sweet potato, peeled and diced
• 5 celery sticks, chopped into small pieces
• ⅔ small pack coriander, few sprigs reserved, the rest chopped
• 1 lemon, cut into 4 wedges, to serve

Method

• STEP 1

  Heat the oil in a large non-stick sauté pan over a medium heat and fry the onions and garlic until starting to soften. Tip in the spices and chilli, stir briefly, then pour in the passata and stock. Add the lentils, carrots, sweet potato and celery, and bring to the boil.

• STEP 2

  Cover the pan and leave to simmer for 30 mins, then cook uncovered for a further 5-10 mins until the vegetables and lentils are tender. Stir in the chopped coriander and serve in bowls with lemon wedges for squeezing over, and the reserved coriander sprinkled over.

RECIPE TIPS

Adding coriander after cooking helps protect its beneficial oils and flavour.

Reviews

4 months ago

Easy to make, tasty and satisfying. I halved the recipe and it easily made three portions, so I would agree with the previous comments about it being a lot of food. I had most of the ingredients, but no fresh chillis so substituted with some rose harissa, and no celery, so added a few fennel seeds.…

1 year ago

Very nice, the combination of spices works really well. I halved the recipe and still had enough for 3 generous portions. I took out a jug full and blended it and returned it to the soup, just before serving to add a bit of texture. This worked really well. Will be making it again.

2 years ago

Delicious and as good as a lamb-based harira I’ve been cooking for years. Makes more than 4 generous portions. I added a beaten egg and lemon juice at the end of cooking.