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Hlalem
Tiny pasta and chickpea soup
Hlalem: Sahel soup of tiny hand-rolled pasta with chickpeas, beans, chard and harissa
Across the Sahel coast and in Kairouan, the arrival of cold weather means hlalem: a thick, red, peppery soup full of tiny hand-rolled pasta spindles, chickpeas, white beans, chard and celery, sharpened with harissa and dried mint. Rolling the pasta is a social job, often done by women together in autumn, and the dried hlalem keeps all winter. The soup is hearty enough to be a meal, earthy from the pulses and bright from the celery leaves. It is also made during Ramadan. If you do not roll your own, orzo or broken spaghettini work. Chef's tip: add the pasta only in the last 15 minutes; cooked too long it swells and drinks up all the broth.
- Total time
- 80 min
- Difficulty
- medium
- Serves
- 6
Ingredients
For the hlalem
- 5 ½ oz fine semolina
- ¼ cup warm waterabout
- 1 pinch salt
For the soup
- 5 tbsp olive oil
- 1 onionchopped
- 2 celery stickschopped, leaves kept
- 4 garlic clovescrushed
- 3 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 ½ tbsp harissa paste
- 1 tsp ground caraway
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 8 ½ oz cooked chickpeasdrained
- 8 ½ oz cooked white beansdrained
- 8 ¼ cups water
- 7 oz Swiss chard or spinachshredded
- 1 tsp dried mint
- 1 ½ tsp salt
- 6 lemon wedges (optional)
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Method
0/7 doneStep 1: Mix 5 ½ oz fine semolina and 1 pinch salt and add ¼ cup warm water gradually, kneading until you have a firm, smooth dough that is not sticky. Rest under a cloth for 10 minutes.
10 minStep 2: Pinch off pea-sized pieces and roll each between your palms into a tiny spindle, about 1.5 cm long and pointed at both ends. Spread them on a floured tray and let them dry while you make the soup.
20 minStep 3: Heat 5 tbsp olive oil in a large pot over a medium heat and cook 1 onion and 2 celery sticks for 8 minutes, until soft.
8 minStep 4: Add 4 garlic cloves, 3 tbsp tomato paste, 1 ½ tbsp harissa paste, 1 tsp ground caraway and 1 tsp ground coriander and stir for 2 minutes until the paste darkens.
2 minStep 5: Add 8 ½ oz cooked chickpeas, 8 ½ oz cooked white beans, 8 ¼ cups water and 1 ½ tsp salt, bring to the boil and simmer for 20 minutes.
20 minStep 6: Add the hlalem and 7 oz Swiss chard or spinach and simmer for 12–15 minutes, stirring now and then, until the pasta is tender and the soup has thickened. A common mistake is cooking the pasta from the start; it turns mushy and soaks up the broth.
15 minStep 7: Rub in 1 tsp dried mint, chop and add the celery leaves, and taste for salt. Serve hot with 6 lemon wedges to squeeze over.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 330 kcal
- Protein
- 12 g
- Carbs
- 45 g
- Fat
- 12 g
- Fibre
- 9 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does hlalem take?
- About 80 minutes in total: 30 minutes to prepare and 50 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 6 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegan?
- Yes. It has no meat, fish, dairy or eggs.
- Is it very spicy?
- It has some heat. Use less chilli for a milder version, or more if you like it hot.
- What can I use instead of onion?
- 2 shallots per onion.
- What can I use instead of celery sticks?
- Fennel, same weight.
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