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Lamb Meatball and Semolina Dumpling Soup With Collard Greens | Yotam Ottolenghi

Anytime you put meatballs in a soup, it becomes an almost-complete meal on its own. Whether they are beef, lamb or turkey meatballs, that doesn’t matter much. You’d instinctively reach for the meatballs, regardless of how old you are. Seriously! That’s interesting: perhaps meatballs are the proverbial shiny objects for which no one would or could resist reaching and touching. Considering that there are two types of meatballs, the lamb meatballs and semolina dumplings, that doubles the happiness. The lamb meatballs and semolina dumplings in a tomato-based soup with collard greens is so stunning in both looks and flavor. Furthermore, it has the heft and capacity to feed and impress like no other. It’s a five-star soup, for sure.

About the culinary origin of the soup: Yotam Ottolenghi explains that the soup is very much inspired by Iraqi kubba hamuth. “Hamuth” means sour in Arabic, which refers to the soup’s sour tomato and lemon broth. Traditionally, the soup contains lamb-stuffed semolina dumplings called “kubba.”

The idea of having two components, meatballs and dumplings, is to create textural contrast — a good thing to impart complexity to the soup. If you’re pressed for time, a worthy substitution could be some kind of white bean or chickpeas. The Moroccan chickpea soup comes to mind.

To make the meatballs, combine ground lamb with bread crumbs, aromatics (onion, parsley) and spices (all spice, cumin). Then shape and roll the ground lamb mixture with lightly oiled hands. Since you have your hands dirty, I find it efficient to make a big batch of these meatballs. Cook a portion of them and freeze the rest for later use. Having these tasty meatballs in the freezer gets you a step closer to another wonderful meal.

To put it all together, we serve the soup with pita bread and a fattoush salad. Now the warm bowl of soup becomes the key attraction in a party, a party where comfort food and cultural tradition are celebrated.

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Lamb Meatball and Semolina Dumpling Soup With Collard Greens

By Yotam Ottolenghi – Serves: 4-6

This hearty soup is a meal in a bowl. It is very much inspired by Iraqi kubba hamuth. “Hamuth” means sour in Arabic, which refers to the soup’s sour tomato and lemon broth. Traditionally, the soup contains lamb-stuffed semolina dumplings called “kubba.” The divergence here is that they exist as two separate components — meatballs and semolina dumplings — and add a wonderful textural contrast. If you can’t find collard greens, feel free to swap these out for an equal amount of Tuscan kale.

Ingredients

FOR THE LAMB MEATBALLS:
10 ounces ground lamb
⅓ cup/30 grams fresh bread crumbs (see Tip)
¼ cup coarsely grated onion
Scant ¼ cup finely chopped fresh parsley
1½ teaspoons ground allspice
1 teaspoon ground cumin
¾ teaspoon fine sea salt
1 tablespoon olive oil, plus more for greasing your hands
FOR THE BROTH:
1 small onion, peeled and roughly chopped
5 garlic cloves, peeled and roughly chopped
2 jalapeños, halved, seeded and roughly chopped
¼ cup olive oil
6 tablespoons/90 grams tomato paste
½ cup finely chopped fresh cilantro, plus more for garnish
1½ teaspoons ground cumin
1½ teaspoons ground coriander
½ teaspoon ground turmeric
1 small (10-ounce) bunch collard greens, stems removed, leaves finely shredded
1 tablespoon fine semolina
¾ teaspoon granulated sugar
1 quart store-bought or homemade chicken stock
Fine sea salt and black pepper
¼ cup fresh lemon juice
FOR THE SEMOLINA DUMPLINGS:
¼ cup buttermilk, plus ¼ cup for serving
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 large egg
½ teaspoon baking powder
Fine sea salt and black pepper
½ cup/50 grams fresh bread crumbs (see Tip)
½ cup fine semolina

Instructions

MAKE THE MEATBALLS: Add all the ingredients minus the oil to a medium bowl and use your hands to knead the mixture thoroughly. Use lightly oiled hands to roll into 18 small balls and place on a plate.

Heat the 1 tablespoon of oil in a large nonstick pan over medium-high. Once very hot, add the meatballs and cook for 3 to 4 minutes, turning as necessary, until nicely browned but not cooked through. Transfer the meatballs and any juices collected to a large, shallow bowl and set aside until needed.

MAKE THE BROTH: Add the onion, garlic and jalapeños to a food processor and blitz into a rough paste. Add the oil to a deep, medium lidded saucepan and place it over medium-high heat. Once hot, add the onion mixture and cook for 6 minutes, stirring occasionally, until softened and browned. Add the tomato paste, cilantro, cumin, coriander and turmeric and cook for 1½ to 2 minutes, stirring often, until deeply red. Add the collard greens in big handfuls, stirring with each addition, until slightly wilted. Stir in the semolina and sugar, then the stock, 1 cup water, 1½ teaspoons salt and a good grind of pepper; bring to a boil over high. Turn the heat down to medium and leave to simmer for 15 minutes.

MAKE THE DUMPLINGS: While the broth simmers, make the dumplings. In a large bowl, whisk the buttermilk, butter, egg, baking powder, ½ teaspoon salt and a good grind of pepper just until combined. Add the bread crumbs and semolina and mix until just combined; don’t overwork it. Set aside for 5 minutes to firm up slightly, then use your hands to shape the mixture into 18 small balls. Make sure they’re nice and compact as you shape them.

Turn the heat on the broth down to medium-low and stir in the meatballs. Next, gently lower in the dumplings one by one, without stirring. Cover the pot and leave to cook for 10 minutes, until the dumplings have puffed up and are cooked through. Remove the lid and gently stir in the lemon juice.

Divide the soup among 4 bowls then drizzle with the extra buttermilk, sprinkle with additional cilantro and serve warm.

TIP: To make fresh bread crumbs, slice the crusts off standard white sandwich bread. Cut the crustless bread into pieces, then blitz in a food processor into fine crumbs.