Anyone for Morroccan Chicken Soup?

Whilst "playing" around with flavours in a dish this weekend, I suddenly felt inspired to make a spicy Morroccan Chicken soup. Off to the store to pick a few fresh supplies and back home to chop, chop, chop and put this concoction together in a pot to "stew". Since all the vegetables are very finely chopped and chicken cooks through quickly, in just over an hour we had a large pot of delicious soup, ready to enjoy!! So if you would like to try it, here's the recipe ....

RECIPE

Makes approx 2 litres soup (enough for 8 servings)

2 lt water

3-4 stock cubes (chicken or vegetable)

4 large chicken breasts (cubed)

1 large sweetpotato - peeled and cut in small cubes

2 medium carrots - peeled and cut in small cubes

2 celery sticks - sliced

1 medium onion - chopped

2 leeks chopped

1 tin whole Italian tomatoes (cut into chunks)

1,5 cups cooked chickpeas

1/2 cup red lentils

2 tsps (level) cumin

1 tsp level coriander

1 tsp ground ginger

1 tbl coriander leaves chopped or 1tsp dried coriander leaves

3 tsps paprika

1 clove garlic (or equivalent quantity crushed) Optional

1 small tin tomato paste (optional)

salt and pepper to taste

3-4 tablespoons olive oil

1. Gently fry onion and leeks in 2tbls olive oil until golden (a sprinkling of salt ensures that they don't dry out and burn too quickly)

2. Add chicken and stir fry until sealed.

3. Add 1,5 litre water, chicken stock, red lentils, sweetpotato, carrots, celery and boil for 30 minutes.

4. Add remaining 1/5 litre water, add spices, and herbs, tomato and tomato paste, olive oil and simmer for another 30-45minutes.

Serve piping hot with crusty bread!

BON APPETIT!