Moroccan spice to warm your autumn nights

Hearty with a hint of spice, this slow-cooked harissa lamb soup will fill your home with the intoxicating scents of North African cuisine.

Harissa Lamb Soup. Picture: Steve Brown

This Moroccan soup is typically made with lamb, but chicken thighs or stewing beef could be used as an alternative. As long as you remember to soak the chickpeas overnight, this soup practically makes itself. Feel free to omit the saffron.

Harissa Lamb Soup

2 tablespoons EV olive oil

500g lamb chops, trimmed

1 large onion, finely chopped

2 celery stalks, cut into 1cm pieces

2 teaspoons ground ginger

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

2 teaspoons ground turmeric

Large pinch saffron threads, soaked in 1 tablespoon hot water

2 x 400g tins chopped tomatoes

Large handful each of coriander and parsley, finely chopped, including stalks

1 litre (4 cups) chicken stock

75g (½ cup) dried chickpeas, soaked overnight, drained and rinsed

55g (¼ cup) dried green lentils, rinsed

2 tablespoons lemon juice

In the slow cooker

Put the oil, lamb chops, onion, celery, ginger, cinnamon, turmeric, saffron with its soaking liquid, the coriander and parsley stalks, tomatoes, stock, chickpeas, lentils and 250ml of water in the slow cooker. Season with salt and cook on low for 9 hours until the meat and pulses are tender. Stir in the lemon juice, and chopped coriander and parsley and check seasoning.

On the stovetop

Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large, heavy-based saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the lamb, season with salt and cook for 2 minutes on each side until browned. Remove and set aside. Reduce the heat to medium and add the remaining oil, onion, celery, ginger, cinnamon, turmeric, saffron with its soaking liquid and the stalks from the parsley and coriander. Cook for 3-5 minutes until the vegetables start to soften. Return the meat to the pan, along with the tomatoes, stock, chickpeas and 250ml of water and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover with a lid and cook, stirring occasionally, for 1 hour. Add the lentils and cook for 45 minutes until the meat and pulses are tender. Stir in the lemon juice, chopped parsley and coriander and check the seasoning.

Serves 6

This is an edited extract from Slow Cooking by Olivia Andrews (Murdoch Books)