Annie’s Iranian Noodle Soup

50 ml olive oil
4 onions
2 tsp ground tumeric
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
400g tin chickpeas, drained
400g tin small brown lentils, drained
400g tin haricot beans, drained, these can be hard to find, I use organic baked beans, drained and rinsed
1 litre vegetable stock
40g butter
100g linguine, broken up into shorter lengths (2-5cm)
200g spinach
30g fresh parsley
20g fresh coriander
20g fresh mint
100 ml plain yoghurt

Dice two of the onions. Heat the olive oil in a large pan over a medium heat, and fry the diced onions for 5 minutes, or until soft and pale golden in colour. Add the turmeric and garlic and cook for a further 4 minutes.

Add the chickpeas, lentils and haricot beans to the onions and pour in the stock. Simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Finely slice the other two onions. Place the butter in a non-stick frying pan over a low heat and melt gently. Fry the sliced onions for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until they are deeply caramelised.

When the beans have simmered for 30 minutes, add the linguini to the pot and cook for a further 10 minutes.

Roughly chop the spinach on a board, along with the parsley, coriander and mint.

Stir the spinach and herbs into the noodles and beans. Serve with the caramelised onions and a streak of yoghurt on top. If vegan, omit the yoghurt and add a squeeze of lemon and a drizzle of olive oil.