Every evening we set the table, ready in wait to break our fast. However we don't break fast with all the traditional Moroccan foods as we find them a bit too sweet and oily for our empty stomachs. Whenever we eat these foods after fasting we always collapse into a deep sleep straight after! So we usually keep it healthy and simple and vegetarian.
Our Ramadan break fast meal, called Ftour, usually consists of:
lemon and mint water
ice-cold banana and cardamom smoothie
dates and oranges
with orange and honey crepes
nectarine, pear, strawberry and apple fruit salad with lemon juice and mint
plenty of hummous
soupe au pistou (which I forgot to take a picture of before we ate it all)
with onion and cheese breads
and salad with quinoa.
By then we've eaten so much we can't move and we usually lie around reading, internetting or watching movies. The next day we wake up around 4am and eat crepes and yogurt and drink plenty of water before the call to prayer marks the beginning of the fast. Then it's back to bed for a few extra hours of sleep!
So here's my recipe for the Soupe Au Pistou, it is simply delicious:
Ingredients:
1 onion
3 garlic cloves
2 bay leaves
4 leeks
4 carrots
1 can of haricot beans
4 chopped tomatoes
1L vegetable stock (perhaps more)
2 handfuls of green beans
100g of spaghetti
50g peas
Pesto to serve
It's super duper easy to make. You chop up all the veggies they can be chunky but bite-size. Throw the onions, garlic, leeks and carrots into a big pot with the bay leaves and cook in some olive oil for about 5 mins. Then add the haricot beans, tomatoes and vegetable stock. Bring to the boil, then simmer with the lid on for 10 minutes. Add the green beans and spaghetti and cook for another 10 minutes. Add the peas and cook for a few minutes until soft. Before serving add a spoonful of basil pesto into each bowl of soup.
For the cheese onion breads, simply cut some good quality bread into chunks, spread on some butter, and then layer with finely chopped onions and grated cheese (gruyere, emmenthal or comte) and then bake in the oven for 15 mins.
Okay now I'm salivating, I think I shouldn't have written this post during my last hours of fasting. So hungry.....
