This bright, herbaceous porridge from cookbook author Naomi Duguid is a staple of Persian home cooking. Traditionally called ash, this soup can be made days in advance and reheats beautifully. Simply swirl in the tangy pomegranate molasses, then let the tiny lamb meatballs simmer in the soup for 10 minutes before serving. Slideshow: More Soup Recipes
How to Make It
Make the soup In a large enameled cast-iron casserole, heat the olive oil. Add the onion, cinnamon and turmeric and cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until the onion is beginning to soften, 5 minutes. Add the rice, split peas and 10 cups of water and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the rice and peas are tender and the soup is quite thick, 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Add the scallions, parsley, cilantro and mint and simmer for 30 minutes. Stir in the pomegranate molasses and season with salt.
Make the meatballs In a medium bowl, combine all of the ingredients. Roll rounded teaspoons of the ground lamb into balls. Add the meatballs to the soup and simmer until cooked through, 10 minutes. If the soup is getting too thick, add water.
Meanwhile, make the toppings In a small skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of the canola oil. Add the dried mint and cook until fragrant, 30 seconds. Scrape the mint oil into a bowl and wipe out the skillet. Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of canola oil in the skillet. Add the onion and cook over moderate heat until golden and crisp, 8 minutes; drain. Serve the soup garnished with the mint oil and fried onions.
Make Ahead
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Aggregate Rating value: 4
Review Count: 4
Worst Rating: 0
Best Rating: 5
Author Name: @BluePopsicle
Review Body: Scallions are listed in the directions, but not in the ingredient list. The magazine states: 4 scallions, thinly sliced"
Review Rating:
Date Published: 2016-11-03
Author Name: Azzie
Review Body: This is a decent recipe!. With that said as a Persian woman and cook I can tell you that ash is predominantly herbs. So you need to Att last double the herbs listed and basically any other greens you like!. However there is NEVER cinnamon in a Ash!. So surprised that it's listed with it.
Review Rating:
Date Published: 2016-11-06
Author Name: Msbell11
Review Body: Filling and tasty, really good for a cold winter night. Had trouble finding the molasses, so subbed pomegranate seeds instead. As another reviewer mentioned, its best with double meatballs.
Review Rating: 5
Date Published: 2016-11-29
Author Name: dory92064
Review Body: I'm not a Persian women so can't speak to how authentic the recipe is, but I loved it -- the brightness of the herbaceous flavor and the lamb meatballs was wonderful. This is definitely a keeper. The recommendation of Rose wine was perfect.
Review Rating: 5
Date Published: 2016-11-12
Author Name: Myiah Hutchens
Review Body: This is fabulous! The soup definitely is improved by a night in the fridge so I'd recommend making it a day in advance. I cheated and used canned fried onions rather than frying fresh and thought it worked well.
Review Rating: 5
Date Published: 2016-12-04
Author Name: MKO120
Review Body: I found it a little boring but my husband loved it. Double the lamb meatballs - you need 2 meatballs for every cup of soup and you have 10-15 cups of soup. Make 30 meatballs (1 lb of lamb).
Review Rating:
Date Published: 2016-11-12
Author Name: DEAinATL
Review Body: This was certainly not worth the effort. The body of the soup is best described as gruel; the meatballs are tasteless and mushy. My wife ate one meatball and refused any others; the two of us finished our respective bowls and threw away the rest of the pot. I followed the recipe exactly, as I normally do for a new recipe.
Review Rating: 1
Date Published: 2017-02-20
