I'm not sure I have much to add to the title of this post. The Milk Street version of Iranian Ash Reshteh is shockingly good. In fact, I'd say this lighter version may be more suited to my tastes than the more authentic variations I've had from excellent Persian restaurants.
What I also love about this recipe is that it's seemingly flexible to prepare with what you have on hand, as long as there are some beans, noodles, cilantro, and dill involved.
My modifications included no chickpeas, unsalted butter, a handful of filetti noodles instead of linguini, ~4 tbsp. of a vegetarian Better than Bouillon instead of chicken broth, and adding some leftover julienned baby spinach. I also used pre-cooked Camellia kidney beans (approx. 1/3 cup dry) that I made in the Instant Pot the day before (17 minutes high pressure, natural release).
The soup feels lighter than what you'd expect from a bean soup because of the copious amounts of fresh herbs and masoor dal, which is a thinner lentil. The dill adds wonderful flavor complexity to the otherwise stodgier kidney beans and lentils. The soup also features great textural complexity from the thin noodles, thicker beans, and thin lentil broth.
And with precooked or canned beans, this is a weeknight, quick preparation soup that can be served within an hour of starting prep!
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