Fava Bean Cream Soup (Bessara)
Simple Recipes Fasting Recipes Vegetables Arabic Soups and Stews
Bessara, traditionally eaten for breakfast in Morocco. Healthy and filling! It's a simple dish with few ingredients. Just fava beans, garlic, lemon, and a few spices. A pleasure to cook like this.
See here photos of dried fava beans and how to peel them.
Ingredients
500 g dried fava beans (unpeeled with brown skin)
4 garlic cloves
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon sweet paprika
1 teaspoon turmeric
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons olive oil
salt
Lemon-infused oil
5 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon sweet paprika
4 strips of lemon zest
Servings: 4
How to prepare fava bean cream soup (bessara)
- The night before, soak the fava beans in plenty of water at room temperature. The next day, the beans should be very swollen and easy to peel. Remove the outer brown skin as follows: open the pod at the tip with the black "eye" (you can use a knife to help) and then squeeze from the opposite end and the bean will slide out easily. What you extract from the pod is pale yellow and splits easily in two. The peeling process is tedious but necessary, otherwise the soup won't have a pleasant color.
- In a pot, heat the oil and add the peeled whole garlic cloves. Sauté until fragrant (about 1 minute), then remove the pot from heat and add the cumin, paprika, and turmeric. Stir.
- Add the fava beans and 4 cups of water, salt to taste, and bring to a boil. Simmer covered over medium-low heat for 30 minutes until the beans are very soft. Skim off the white foam that forms on the surface at the beginning of boiling.
- In a small saucepan, place the oil and lemon zest (4 strips peeled lengthwise with a vegetable peeler) and heat gently. The oil should not sizzle, keep the temperature low. After 3 minutes, remove from heat, add the spices, stir and cover. Let infuse until the soup is ready, then strain the oil.
- Blend the pot contents in a blender or with an immersion blender until you have a smooth purée. Adjust salt and add the lemon juice.
- Serve warm, drizzled with the infused oil and savory granola as croutons. The soup thickens if stored for more than a few hours.
Soup simmering
