Lamb Meatball and Semolina Dumpling Soup With Collard Greens
Updated Jan. 31, 2023
- Total Time
- 50 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- 10ounces ground lamb
- ⅓cup/30 grams fresh bread crumbs (see Tip)
- ¼cup coarsely grated onion
- Scant ¼ cup finely chopped fresh parsley
- 1½teaspoons ground allspice
- 1teaspoon ground cumin
- ¾teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1tablespoon olive oil, plus more for greasing your hands
- 1small onion, peeled and roughly chopped
- 5garlic cloves, peeled and roughly chopped
- 2jalapeños, halved, seeded and roughly chopped
- ¼cup olive oil
- 6tablespoons/90 grams tomato paste
- ½cup finely chopped fresh cilantro, plus more for garnish
- 1½teaspoons ground cumin
- 1½teaspoons ground coriander
- ½teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1small (10-ounce) bunch collard greens, stems removed, leaves finely shredded
- 1tablespoon fine semolina
- ¾teaspoon granulated sugar
- 1quart store-bought or homemade chicken stock
- Fine sea salt and black pepper
- ¼cup fresh lemon juice
- ¼cup buttermilk, plus ¼ cup for serving
- 3tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- 1large egg
- ½teaspoon baking powder
- Fine sea salt and black pepper
- ½cup/50 grams fresh bread crumbs (see Tip)
- ½cup fine semolina
For the Lamb Meatballs
For the Broth
For the Semolina Dumplings
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Preparation
- Step 1
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.
- Step 2
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.
- Step 3
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.
- Step 4
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.
- Step 5
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.
- Step 6
Divide the soup among 4 bowls then drizzle with the extra buttermilk, sprinkle with additional cilantro and serve warm.
- 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.
Private Notes
Comments
Cream of Wheat isn't semolina. Semolina's made from durum wheat, a particularly hard type of wheat. Cream of Wheat is made from other wheats. You can buy semolina ground to different consistencies, but this recipe seems to want a fine grind, like you would use to make semolina pasta. It's often available in grocery stores from a number of companies, such as Bob's Red Mill, or you can buy it online. I get mine from Janie's Mill when I order other flours.
If you have access to an Asian market, semolina is called sooji or rava.
This was fantastic, made exactly as written. Complex, comfort-food, delicious. Definitely 5-star, definitely going on the rotation here. Only nitpick I have is that step 3 should have been broken into multiple steps. I found myself almost missing bits as I moved through it and having to go back and carefully read sentence-by-sentence. Had it been written as 3-4 distinct steps it would have been easier to follow.
As always with Ottolenghi recipes, the amount of time and ingredients are always greater than expected… with results that are always greater than anticipated. Incredible layered flavor and the semolina dumpling texture was a surprise delight. That said, I would 100% make the meatballs the day in advance.
these are restaurant-quality delicious! Absolutely wonderful. Took me a full 2 hours to make and it was worth the time and effort. sooooo good
This is recipe to make on a winter weekend or holiday when you are not rushed. It takes time and care, but the flavors and textures are so worth the effort. Share with friends and family!!
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