Moroccan Bessara: a Fava Bean Soup or Dip

Richard Dyson

May 21, 2017

I’ve been a fan of fava beans and Hodmedod’s for years and this was one of the earliest recipes and remains for me one of the best. I want to share a recent tweak I’ve made.
I cook the 500g pack of split Hodmedod’s organic fava beans unsoaked in a pressure cooker with three peeled cloves of garlic and half a teaspoon of turmeric. I give 10-12 minutes of high pressure then natural release.
Then I drain through a sieve capturing some of the liquid. Blitz the solids with another clove of raw garlic. Then add cumin, pepper, salt, paprika. Use the liquid to thin the mix back to your chosen consistency (I like it much runnier than in the picture). Now for the two, killer ingredients: a couple of teaspoons of Harissa paste and a few big splashes of sherry vinegar. It’s hot, tangy, garlicky and sweetish. Eat cold as a dip. Once it’s been in the fridge it cakes up into something like pate – which is great in lunch boxes.