Couscous for Lunch or Dinner: Algerian Pasta Soup With Labneh
The berkoukes are giant couscous balls cooked into soups and stews, with little differentiation across North Africa and the Levant.
This is a really hearty soup. It is pretty much dinner if you want it to be, and certainly lunch.
The berkoukes are giant couscous balls cooked into soups and stews, with little differentiation across North Africa and the Levant. This dish has been around in various formats since at least Avicenna's time. We serve it with spiced labneh-because everything is better with spiced labneh.
Ingredients
Berkoukes (Algerian Pasta Soup With Labneh)
Serves 6
- Big lump of vegan ghee, plus a little oil
- 1 teaspoon caraway seeds
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1 large onion, finely chopped
- 4 celery sticks, finely chopped
- ½ fennel bulb, finely chopped
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon dried lavender
- 1 leveled teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 heaped teaspoon sweet paprika
- 1 heaped teaspoon harissa paste
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 2 peeled carrots, cut into 2-centimeter chunks
- 2 large waxy potatoes, cut into 2-centimeter chunks
- 125 grams berkoukes pasta (giant couscous or m'hamsa will do, or use petit plomb pasta)
- 2 400-gram cans chopped tomatoes
- Sea salt, to taste
For the labneh
- 200 grams thick vegan yogurt
- Sea salt
- 1 teaspoon dried mint
- ½ teaspoon Aleppo pepper
Melt the ghee with the oil in a heavy-bottomed pan and, once it is sizzling, throw in the caraway and cumin seeds, followed after 30 seconds by the onion. Once the onion has softened, add the celery, fennel, pepper and garlic. When the celery has softened, add the herbs and spices, stirring well, followed by the harissa, tomato paste, carrots and potatoes.
Add the berkoukes, stirring well, and then add the canned tomatoes and around 3 cups (750 milliliters) of water. Bring to a boil, turn down the heat and simmer for about 30 minutes or until the potatoes and carrots are cooked and the couscous soft. I would recommend using a heat diffuser to prevent sticking; regular stirring will also help. Add salt to taste.
Mix the yogurt with salt to taste. Add the dried mint and Aleppo pepper.
Serve the soup in your most rustic-looking bowls, topping each one with a spoonful of the labneh.
Reprinted with permission from:
Veganistan: A Vegan Tour of the Middle East and Beyond
Sally Butcher. Interlink Books, 2023. InterlinkBooks.com
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