Lebanese Tomato Soup Recipes

LEBANESE LEMON LENTIL SOUP

Steps:

• Heat olive oil in a large heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat. Cook and stir onion, celery, and carrots until slightly tender, about 5 minutes. Add garlic; cook and stir until fragrant, 30 seconds. Add water, lentils, 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, salt, coriander, cumin, black pepper, and cayenne pepper; stir to incorporate. Cover and simmer until lentils are tender, stirring occasionally, 1 1/2 hours.
• Whisk butter and flour together in a small saucepan over medium-low heat; stir constantly until thickened and paste-like, about 10 minutes. Reduce heat to low, stirring every 2 to 3 minutes, until light brown, about 20 more minutes. Whisk flour paste into finished soup, a spoonful at a time, until smooth and creamy. Serve with lemon wedges, 2 tablespoons parsley, and a sprinkle of freshly ground pepper.

LEBANESE-STYLE RED LENTIL SOUP

Steps:

• Bring chicken stock and lentils to a boil in a large saucepan over high heat, then reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes.
• Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Stir in garlic and onion, and cook until the onion has softened and turned translucent, about 3 minutes.
• Stir onions into the lentils and season with cumin and cayenne. Continue simmering until the lentils are tender, about 10 minutes.
• Carefully puree the soup in a standing blender, or with a stick blender until smooth. Stir in cilantro and lemon juice before serving.

LEBANESE TOMATO SOUP

Steps:

• Heat the butter and oil in a large saucepan over medium heat.
• Add the onion and garlic, season lightly with salt and pepper and saute until soft.
• Stir in the tomatoes and simmer 5 minutes, mashing them with a wooden spoon.
• Add the water, broth and escarole, simmer 20 minutes.
• Stir in the pasta and cook 5 minutes or until it is al dente.
• Stir in the lemon juice and mint leaves, simmer for 1 minute.
• Taste for seasoning.

MOM'S LEBANESE VEGETABLE SOUP

Steps:

• Instructions Prep the vegetables by washing all your veggies really well. Dry them. Cut the zucchini in half lengthwise, then do it ago, then slice it upwards all the way. Peel the carrots and cut them the same way you did the zucchini. Peel the potatoes and cube them into a medium-sized dice. As you finish with each vegetable, add the cut pieces into a large bowl of cold water. Then, you an move on to the next piece of vegetable. When you're done, you should have all your sliced and cubed veggies in the large bowl of cold water and set aside. Clean the chicken legs/thighs really well and pat them dry. Next, in a very large stockpot, place the chicken in there. Slice the red onion and place it in the pot. Add in the black peppercorns, cinnamon sticks, dried bay leaves and cardamom. Add in enough cold water to fill about 3/4 of the pot with water. Leave the pot uncovered and cook over high heat for about an hour and fifteen minutes. About halfway through, skim the scum (fat and foam on the surface) and place it in a separate bowl to dump. After that hour and fifteen minutes or when the stock is done, wash the veggies through a strainer. Strain all the water and dump all at once into another very large stockpot. Use a large strainer and place it above the stockpot with the veggies. Begin to ladle the completed chicken stock through the strainer and pour the stock into the pot of veggies. Set the pot with the chicken pieces to the side, as we'll be pulling a few of the pieces later on. In the stockpot with the veggies, stir-in about two or three heaping tablespoons of Vegeta seasoning. Stir-in two cans of tomato paste. Cook over high heat, uncovered, for about 30 minutes and simmer on the lowest setting, uncovered, for another 30 minutes or until the veggies are tender, but not mushy. Turn off the heat. Take three or four of the cooked legs and thighs from the stock we cooked earlier. Pull the chicken pieces off the bone into medium slices, similar to what you'd do for a pulled chicken sandwich or for chicken noodle soup. Stir-in the chicken pieces. Wash and cut a large bunch of parsley and stir it into soup all at once. Stir everything to combine. Serve hot to warm!

LEBANESE TOMATO SAUCE

Steps:

• Bring a pot of water to a boil; prepare a large ice-water bath. Cut a shallow X in the bottom of each tomato; place in pot and blanch 20 seconds. Use a slotted spoon to transfer to ice bath; let cool completely. Peel and discard skins.
• Core, halve, and squeeze tomatoes to remove seeds and pulp. Transfer flesh to a food processor. Add oil, cumin seeds, pepper flakes, and salt. Pulse just until a chunky sauce forms (about 8 times). Transfer to a bowl. Stir in garlic. Refrigerate, covered, at least 8 hours and up to 3 days. Bring to room temperature and remove garlic before serving.

LEBANESE TOMATO SALSA (BANADURAH HARRAH)

Steps:

• Cut the stalks out of the tomatoes. Put them in a bowl and pour over boiling water to loosen their skins. Peel away the skins, remove the seeds and finely dice the flesh.
• Heat the olive oil in a pan over a medium heat. When hot, add the tomatoes and garlic. Cook, stirring frequently, for 5 minutes.
• Add the cayenne pepper and dried mint. Season with salt and cook for another 5 minutes, stirring. By now, the tomatoes should have lost all their excess liquid. Taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary.
• Serve the tomato salsa at room temperature.