Ash Reshteh Herb Noodle Salad with Warm Mint Oil

Method

1. Bring a 20 cm pot of plenty of water to the boil over high heat with the coarse salt, add the noodles and cook for 9 min. Drain, rinse under cold water to wash off the starch and shake off every drop of water.

   Add in this stepReshteh noodles (or linguine) 140 gCoarse salt (for the pasta water) 1½ tsp

   high heat

2. Heat a 20 cm pan over medium heat and dry-toast the walnuts for 3 min, then tip them out and crush roughly. Add most of the oil to the same pan with the thinly sliced shallots and fry for 7 min, stirring, until golden, then lift onto kitchen paper. They crisp as they cool.

   Add in this stepWalnuts 20 gShallots 2Neutral oil 1¾ tbsp

   medium heat

3. Mix the kashk with the lemon juice and 1–2 tbsp cold water into a thick, pourable dressing. Kashk is salty, so taste before adding any salt.

   Add in this stepLiquid kashk (or sour cream) 4 tbspLemon (juice) ½

4. In a large bowl toss the noodles, rinsed chickpeas and kidney beans, roughly chopped parsley, coriander and dill, baby spinach and sliced spring onions with half the dressing, then pile onto plates.

   Add in this stepChickpeas (tinned, drained) 100 gRed kidney beans (tinned, drained) 100 gFlat-leaf parsley 30 gFresh coriander (cilantro) 30 gDill 10 gBaby spinach 40 gSpring onions 2

5. Put the remaining oil and the thinly sliced garlic in a small pan over low heat for 1 min; when the garlic is pale golden, turn off the heat and stir in the dried mint for a few seconds. Spoon the warm mint oil over the salad, add the rest of the dressing, the shallots and walnuts, and eat straight away.

   Add in this stepNeutral oil 1¼ tbspGarlic cloves 1Dried mint 1 tsp

   low heat