golden rosh hashana pumpkin soup

by anzya

With Rosh Hashana approaching I thought I’d share one of my favourite recipes from Claudia Roden’s “The Book of Jewish Food”. Apparently this was traditionally eaten by Jews in Morocco on the first night of the holiday. I’m guessing the delicious aromatic sweetness of the soup has something to do with bringing in a sweet new year.  It is worth splurging on some saffron for this recipe, it really makes the flavour, and besides a little goes a long way!

For my slight variation on the recipe you will need: 250g dried chickpeas, soaked for at least 1 hour before cooking ; 1 large onion, chopped ; 2 1/2 litres chicken/vegie stock ; salt and pepper ; 4 tablespoons sunflower/olive oil ; 1 stick cinnamon ; 1 teaspoon chopped fresh ginger ; a pinch saffron ; 500g delicious orange pumpkin, cubed ; chopped flat leaf parsley

Put the soaked chickpeas, onion and stock into a pot and bring to the boil. Then simmer for 30mins or until the chickpeas are soft. Add the cinnamon, oil, ginger, saffron and pumpkin, and salt and pepper to taste. Simmer until pumpkin falls apart. Serve with chopped parsley on top. Enjoy!