This is a recipe I got from my mother-in-law as it's one of my hubby's favourite dishes - it's name is lubiya which is the Arabic word for beans as well as the informal name of this soup recipe which uses beans as it's main ingredient.
You can cook it with or without meat and it's equally delicious either way but it's healthy, cheap, easy to make and packed full of goodness and a perfect filling meal all on it's own.
Ingredients – to make 3 large or 4 medium portions
- 300g of dried cannellini beans (I get mine from Tesco)
- 1 large onion finely chopped
- 4 pieces of lamb (optional)
- 2 medium carrots, sliced into rounds
- 1 tbsp of olive oil
- 1/2 tsp of salt
- 1/2 tsp of black pepper
- 1 tsp of tumeric
- 1 tsp of chilli powder (add to your preferred spice level)
- 2 tbsp of tomato puree
- 2 litres of water (approx)
Method
I make it in my slow cooker so will base my method on using the slow cooker however, you can also make this dish in a pan on the stove. I’ll give a few hints at the bottom of the post as to what to changes to make if you are cooking it in a pan.
This takes 6 hours in the slow cooker on high or 8 hours on medium
1.
The night before!
Measure out your dried beans and soak in cold water overnight.
2.
In the morning, bring the beans to the boil and allow to simmer for 15 mins before draining and rinsing
3.
In a large non stick frying pan add the olive oil and spices and place on a high heat
4.
Add the finely chopped (or grated onion) and stir in the spices and oil
5.
If you are using lamb, add this at this point and cook just enough to sear it
6.
It should look something like this (literally 5 mins cooking in total)
7.
Add the lamb and onion to your slow cooker
8.
Add the drained beans, sliced carrots and tomato puree
9.
Top with water – you should add enough water to completely cover the ingredients
10.
I put a tea towel under the lid of my slow cooker as it soaks up the condensation and makes the dish thicken up more quickly (but I would never do this and leave the house out of safety reasons).
Put your slow cooker on medium or high depending on how long you have before dinner!
11.
Stir every couple of hours, it will gradually start to thicken up.
The final consistency you are aiming for is quite a thick sauce that is a bit creamy. You may need to add a splash of water if it’s too thick.
12.
Serve and enjoy!!!
It’s a really filling dish so we often have a big bowl of this soup for dinner and then have smaller bowls of what’s leftover for lunch.
To reheat, add to a large saucepan, it will probably have thickened up even more so add a splash of boiling water and then heat gently until hot.
To cook in a pan
Follow steps 1 – 6 exactly the same. Then get your largest saucepan with a lid and place on a very low heat. Add all the ingredients as per steps 7, 8 and 9. Put the lid on the pan but leave a small gap and allow to simmer slowly for about one and a half hours. Stir every now and again and top up with water if it’s too thick.
This is one of our family favourite recipes and a perfect dish to make for a busy day as the preparation takes hardly any time at all and then you can just leave it to do it’s thing! I hope you enjoy!
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This is a lovely soup one of my favourites have it alot. Its very easy to make, its tasty, warming and filling. Enjoy!
silly question George does the tea towel not drop into th slow cooker and into the soup?
I’ve made this often and it’s definitely very filling and delicious !!! X