Chickpea and Lamb Soup/Stew

Ingredients:
3 lamb shoulder chops (around 500 grams -cut into cubes)
1 can of chickpeas (drained and rinsed)
1 onion (chopped)
2 garlic cloves (finely chopped)
2 cups of chicken broth
1/2 can of crushed tomatoes
3 tablespoons of olive oil
2 cups of water
1 teaspoon of coriander seeds
1 teaspoon of cumin seeds
1/4 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon of red pepper flakes
Fresh cilantro or mint
Salt

If you like Moroccan cuisine, I am sure you will enjoy this soup. I found this recipe in the Soup's On book, and here is a slightly modified version. First thing to do is to prepare the spices. Place the coriander and cumin seeds in a small skillet and cook until they are toasted and fragrant. Then place them in a spice grinder and crush them into powder. I do not have one, so I just placed them within foil and used a glass to crush them. It's fine if they are not perfectly powdered. Add the cinnamon and pepper flakes to this mix.

Separate the meat from its bones and cut into small pieces but do not trash the bones yet. In a large soup pot, heat (medium-high) 1 tablespoon of olive oil, add the meat and the bones, and cook just to brown them for 4 minutes. Then transfer them to a bowl.

Reduce the heat to medium and add 2 more tablespoons of olive oil to the same soup pot. Add the onion and the garlic. Once they soften, add the prepared spice mix, and stir well. Slowly mix in the chicken broth, the lamb meat and the bones (and the juice in the bowl), crushed tomatoes, and water. When it boils, reduce the heat to medium-low and let it simmer uncovered about an hour. The can of chickpeas needs to be added at the very end, to cook for about 10 minutes only. Season with salt and remove the bones. The soup is ready! Serve it with chopped fresh cilantro or mint to garnish.

The recipe makes a thick soup so if you prefer you could thin it by adding more water. Alternatively, you can have it as a stew. We served it with some couscous, worked perfectly!