Potato Soup Lebanese Style
Ingredients
- 2/3 cup chick peas, soaked overnight
- 1/2 cup dehen (use 2 slices of hot head cheese)
- 1 cup chopped onions
- 1/2 a chopped sweet pepper
- 1 jalapeno pepper, pierced with fork, not chopped (optional)
- water
- 1/2 cup raw short-grained rice
- 2 teaspoons salt or more to taste
- 1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
- 2 teaspoons Worchestershire sauce
- 6 medium potatoes, cut in chunks
- Fresh lemon juice
- crushed dried spearmint
- 1/2-1 cup chopped left over ham
Instructions
Cook soaked peas until tender, about 1 1/4 hours. Drain reserving cooking water. Melt dehen (or head cheese) in heavy large skillet or Dutch Oven. Add onions and green peppers and garlic and saute until onions are limp. Measure reserved cooking water. Add water to equal 5 1/2 -6 cups liquid. Add chick peas to dehen and onion mixture. Stir in rice, salt and potatoes. Bring quickly to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Add ham, Worchestershire, jalapeno, ground pepper, and cover and simmer another 10 minutes. Soup sould be very thick. Remove jalapeno pepper. If soup is too thick for your taste, add in some more of the pea water or broth. Serve hot, adding 1 tablespoon of lemon juice and 1/2 teaspoon spearmint to each serving.
