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Roasted ras-el-hanout pumpkin soup with barley and leftover lamb

Katrina Meynink
Katrina Meynink

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Spiced pumpkin soup topped with barley, labne and leftover lamb.
Spiced pumpkin soup topped with barley, labne and leftover lamb.Katrina Meynink

This is how you use the random bits of your leftover lamb roast. I wouldn't encourage you to cook lamb specifically for this, although you certainly can and it makes this gloriously rich and amazingly indulgent. Rather than slow-cooked, you could pan-fry very thin slices of lamb backstrap and it would be just as wonderful. For a vegetarian option, omit the lamb entirely.

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Ingredients

  • 1.5kg pumpkin, cut into large chunks, seeds removed

  • 2 brown onions, quartered

  • 2 tbsp olive oil

  • 1½ tbsp ras-el-hanout

  • 400g can chopped tomatoes

  • 750ml (3 cups) chicken stock (plus more to cook the barley)

To serve

  • ½ cup black barley*

  • 2 cups shredded cooked lamb

  • ½ cup coriander leaves, finely chopped

  • 8 labne balls

Method

  1. 1. Preheat oven to 160C fan-forced (180C conventional). Line a large flat roasting tray with baking paper. Add the pumpkin pieces and the onion. Pour over the olive oil and the ras-el-hanout. Using your hands, turn the pumpkin and onion pieces to coat them in the oil and spice mixture. Cook for 30-45 minutes until the pumpkin is golden and cooked through.

    2. Scoop the pumpkin flesh, onion and any cooking juices into a large saucepan. Add the tinned tomatoes and chicken stock and stir to combine. Place over low heat and simmer for 45 minutes or up to 1 hour, with the lid on to avoid too much evaporation.

    3. While the soup is simmering, add the barley to a saucepan and cover with 250ml-375ml (1-1½ cups) water or chicken stock (if using) and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 40 minutes or until the grains are tender. Strain and add to a bowl with the shredded lamb and coriander leaves. Season generously with salt and pepper.

    4. Give the soup a quick blitz straight in the pot or transfer to a blender.

    5. Pour the soup into serving bowls, scoop over some of the lamb and barley mixture and break over a few balls of labne (you want about 1 tbsp per serve). Season again with salt and pepper to taste.

    *If you can't find black barley (I find the supermarkets to be a bit hit and miss with this), substitute with other barley or even some burghul cooked according to packet instructions would do the trick.

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Katrina MeyninkKatrina Meynink is a cookbook author and Good Food recipe columnist.

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