Greek Fava (Yellow Split Pea Dip)
Appetizers Simple Recipes Fasting Recipes Budget Recipes Greek
Favosalata (or Santorini fava), a really delicious Greek appetizer. It's made from a variety of yellow split peas that grows on the island of Santorini, called fava. Don't confuse this fava (lathouri in Greek) with broad beans (κουκιά in Greek) from which I made this purée two years ago. Although it has the same color and behaves similarly when cooked, and the taste and texture are quite similar, Greek fava looks like this - it's smaller.
Ingredients
450 g Greek fava (dried yellow split peas)
1 medium onion
1 bay leaf
100 ml extra virgin olive oil
1 small red onion (about 50-70 g)
1/2 lemon
2 teaspoons white wine vinegar
salt, black pepper
For serving: red onion, capers, olive oil
Yield: 1 jar of 800 ml + 1 jar of 400 ml
How to prepare greek fava (yellow split pea dip)
- Wash the split peas in many changes of water until the water stays clear, meaning it's no longer milky. Cover with plenty of water and soak for at least 8 hours (I soaked them in the morning and cooked around 6 PM). After this time, the peas will be swollen. Drain the soaking water and rinse once more.
- Cover with 1.5 liters of water and add the onion cut into large pieces and the bay leaf. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to medium. Simmer until soft (about 20 minutes). Skim off all the white foam that forms at the beginning.
- Remove the bay leaf and onion pieces from the pot. Drain the peas.
- Put the peas in a food processor along with the oil, lemon juice, vinegar and finely chopped red onion. Grind black pepper. Blend everything until you have a paste as smooth as you like. Adjust salt and lemon juice.
- The dip is good warm or at room temperature (it firms up after cooling, it sets). Spread the dip on a plate and with a spoon make a crater in the center. Sprinkle finely diced red onion in the crater, capers in vinegar (or olives) and then pour olive oil. Serve with pita and tomato salad.
