Rottem Lieberson: “Sholeh soup is my comfort pot. It’s the soup I make when anyone in the house is sick or in a bad mood. My grandmother used to make it in the winter, and she always said that after a bowl of Sholeh soup everyone would be healthy. It’s a soup that is passed down from grandmother to granddaughter, from mother to daughter, and somehow managed to stay under the radar. It’s so delicious that the first time I was able to reproduce it, I started crying when I tasted it.”
Sholeh soup is usually made with chicken or beef stock, Rotem’s version has delicate chicken meatballs that make it even more satisfying.
Here is the zoom workshop that was held in Hebrew .
Ingredients for Sholeh Soup
- 2-3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 onion finely chopped
- 4-6 garlic cloves coarsley chopped
- 4 cups (2 liters) water or chicken or beef stock
- 2 turnips Peeled and cut into eighths (out of season you can skip the turnip)
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- Salt
- ground black pepper
- ½ cup rice washed
- ½ cup mung beans washed
- 1 bunch mangold leaves (or swiss chard) finely chopped
- 1 bunch celery leaves chopped
- 1 bunch cilantro finely chopped
For the patties:
- 1.1 lbs (½ kilogram) ground chicken
- 1 bunch parsley finely chopped
- 1 onion finely chopped
- 2 garlic cloves crushed
- Salt
- ground black pepper
Instructions
Prepare the soup:
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1. Heat olive oil in a pot and fry the onion for 3-4 minutes until lightly golden. Add garlic and fry for another minute until fragrant. Be careful not to burn the garlic.
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2. Add water or stock, turnips, turmeric, salt, pepper, rice and mung beans. Bring to a boil and cook on a medium-low flame for about half an hour until the beans and rice soften.
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3. Add all the greens and cook for another fifteen minutes.
Prepare the patties and cook:
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4. Put the meatball ingredients in a mixing bowl and mix well. Roll into small balls the size of a walnut.
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5. Throw the meatballs into the soup and cook for 15 minutes. Serve hot
Variations:
- You can replace the chicken with ground beef.
- For a vegetarian version: you can omit the chicken meatballs.