Moroccan spiced lamb soup

 Winter forces us to slow down. The shorter days and cold nights bring a desire for food that not only warms you physically but also warms your soul. This is indeed one of those recipes, shared with me by a girlfriend.

In Western food culture, we think of cinnamon and nutmeg as spices used in sweet dishes - often paired with sugar on doughnuts, or with mixed fruit in Christmas pudding. But those in the Middle East and Africa know that there is so much more to these spices. They have a warming sensation that goes just as well with lamb as it does with apples. There are many commercial "Moroccan spice" blends available. Mine consists of chilli, allspice, pepper, thyme, cinnamon and nutmeg. It has a warm, woody, almost earthy fragrance.

In this recipe I have dry-roasted the lamb shanks to bring out the sweetness in the meat, to caramelise the outside, and to reduce the fat. Of course, you could skip this step and just boil the shanks in the soup, removing the meat from the bone and returning it to the pot when you add the zucchini. But you won’t get the full depth of flavour that comes with roasting beforehand.

This recipe brought about one of my funniest food stories. As a kid we grew broad beans — cheap, easy to grow, and they reminded my dad of home. I severely disliked them — no matter how they were cooked. Steamed in their pods, boiled, mashed, in dip, made into gnocchi etc. Even our dog didn’t like them! Mum gave me three at every meal and I wasn’t allowed to leave the table until they were eaten. As an adult, I still avoided them where possible. Over the last few years, fava beans have become common on restaurant menus. Their bright green helps dishes pop. I love fava beans. In researching this recipe, to my astonishment I discovered that fava beans are broad beans, just double-shelled. We never took the beans out of the shell — and it was the tough greyish-white outer pod that I disliked. So now I love broad beans — double-shelled :) It is important you don’t skip this step either. I can get broad beans in the freezer section of my supermarket, as they are not in season during winter when I want to make this soup.

Serves 6–8

• 2 lamb shanks, roasted at 160°C for 1 hr  
• 1 onion, diced  
• 1 large carrot, diced  
• 1 swede, diced  
•  2 cloves garlic, crushed  
• 15 g butter  
• 2 tbl olive oil  
• 1 tbl Moroccan seasoning  
•  400 g tin diced tomatoes  
• 1 l beef stock  
• 185 g Italian-style soup mix (borlotti beans, white beans, red lentils, split peas (green & yellow), kidney beans)  
•  250 g frozen broad beans  
• 1 zucchini, sliced

Remove fat and bones from cooled lamb shanks. Dice the meat and set aside.  

In a large pot, gently melt butter with olive oil. Add Moroccan seasoning and fry until fragrant. Add onion, garlic, swede and sauté until onions are soft. Add tomatoes, stock, soup mix and 400 ml water. Bring to the boil.

Reduce heat to a simmer. Cook for 1½–2 hrs until beans are soft and the mixture thickens.

Meanwhile, blanch the broad beans and peel away the tough skin.

Add the lamb, broad beans and zucchini to the soup. Stir and allow to simmer to heat through.

Serve with crusty bread.