Name: Persian Pomegranate Soup (Ash Anar)
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 1 h 20 min
Total time: 1 h 30 min
Yield: 6
Cuisine: Persian
Ingredients: 2 TBS extra virgin olive oil; 1 cup chopped parsley; 3/4 cup chopped cilantro; 1 cup chopped spinach; 1 leek; 8 cup vegetable stock; 1/3 cup lemon juice; 1/2 cup basmati rice; 1/3 cup yellow split peas; 1/4 cup pomegranate concentrate *; 2 TBS granulated sugar; 1/2 tsp salt; 1/4 tsp ground black pepper; 6 TBS pomegranate arils, (1 TBS per bowl)

This hearty, Persian Pomegranate Soup (Ash Anar) will nurture your soul with spinach, yellow split peas and just a tang of pomegranate. Find more of my pomegranate recipes.

When the weather turns cold, we all turn to warm foods. The cool weather comes late to San Diego, some would even say that San Diego is always cool. But despite the actual temperature outside, fall means that pomegranate season is upon us. And for my family, we always do a happy for this time of year.

No matter WHAT the temperature is outside, my husband and two kids could eat soup for every day of the year. Me? Not so much. My husband likes to joke that if it wasn’t for the two younger kids loving soup so much (and the veggies I cram in it!), than my hubby would never get any soup!

The kids’ soup of choice is chicken noodle soup with lemon. I make this homemade treat about once a week now. But, after awhile, my husband request soup that HE really likes, which means comfort food and Persian soup.

What is Persian Ash?

Persian soups are all called ash. Not pronounced like the ash produced in fires, but with a long ‘a’ sound in ‘all’: aash. Persian ash are some of the most nutritious soups I have ever seen. They aren’t watered down, like a can of Campbell’s soup. They are what Rachel Ray calls, “Stoups” – a cross between a stew and a soup.

Persian ash is filled herbs, spinach, vegetables and rice. Some have meat in them while most are vegetarian. And for a vegetarian soup, they are hearty, delicious and totally worth the effort to make.

About Persian Pomegranate Soup

Ash Anar translates to ‘pomegranate soup.’ It does not contain pomegranate fruit, but the liquid concentrate. I prefer pomegranate concentrate to pomegranate molasses because it has less sugar and a lot more fruity flavor. I just add a little bit of sugar to the soup to balance out the sourness of the pom concentrate.

You can purchase pom concentrate at middle eastern stores or online. You can also make your own pomegranate molasses so you can control the amount of sugar.

The vegetables in ash anar include parsley, cilantro, spinach and leeks. This version of ash anar is a vegan soup and gets its protein from yellow split peas. Some use ground beef or ground lamb, even dropping in small meatballs.

How to seed a pomegranate

I do like to garnish my ash fresh pomegranate arils. If you want to garnish your soup with fresh arils too, then you need to learn the proper way to seed a pomegranate. These wonderful fruits are available as early as August, and of course you can pay extra and buy already seeded pomegranate arils from the grocery store.

If you want to remove the arils yourself, no problem. I have written a whole post on how to see a pomegranate. It is not hard, but it is a little time consuming. You don’t need special equipment, just a sharp pairing knife and a bowl of water.

And wear dark clothes or clothes you don’t like too much. Pomegranate juice does stain!

Yield: serves 6