Name: Cannellini bean & lamb soup
Yield: Serves 4
Cuisine: Yemen
Ingredients: 100 g dried cannellini or pinto beans, soaked overnight in plenty of cold water, then drained; ¼ of a small head of celeriac, peeled and cut into 0.5 cm dice (170 g in total); 7 cardamom pods, lightly crushed; 20 large garlic cloves, peeled; 1 tsp ground cumin; 500 g stewing meat from lamb (or beef if you prefer), cut into 2 cm cubes; 1.75 litres water; 1 small onion (150 g in total), finely chopped; 1 tbsp sunflower oil; bread, to serve; salt and black pepper; 4 Charlotte potatoes, (about 250 g), peeled and cut into 2 cm cubes; chopped coriander or Zhoug (see Harissa); lemon juice, to serve; 2 tbsp tomato purée; 1 tsp caster sugar; ½ tsp ground turmeric

Preparation info

Serves
4

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

Jerusalem

By Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi

Published 2012

About

Yemeni Jews, who set up simple eateries in Israel after settling there in the 1950s, are famous for their soups and stews, skilfully using bones, cheap cuts of meat and various spices to get a real intensity of flavour. This particular soup is what we would cook to brighten up a dreary winter’s night. It is fantastic! If you like, consider adding ground cinnamon as Aleppian Jews do in a very similar soup. A few marrow bones won’t go amiss either.

This soup can be served simply with