Bessara is the name of the soup as well as a creamy paste, made in the same way but with less water (see Variation). You can buy the split and skinless dried fava beans in Asian and Middle Eastern stores. They look creamy white without their dried brown skins.

　　

Ingredients

serves 4

　　1 1/4 cups split skinless dried fava beans, soaked overnight

　　3 whole garlic cloves

　　2 chicken bouillon cubes

　　1 teaspoon ground cumin

　　1 teaspoon paprika

　　Good pinch of ground chili pepper

　　Salt

　　To serve: extra virgin olive oil; 2 lemons, cut into quarters

　　

Step 1

Rinse and drain the soaked beans and put them in a pan with the garlic and 6 cups water. Simmer, covered, for about 1 hour. Crumble in the bouillon cubes and simmer another 30 minutes, or until the beans fall apart.

　　

Step 2

Still in the pot, mash the beans with a potato masher and add the cumin, paprika, and chili pepper and, if necessary, a little salt, bearing in mind the saltiness of the bouillon cubes. Stir thoroughly and cook a few minutes more. Add a little water if you would like to thin the soup. For a thicker soup, cook, uncovered, for a while longer.

　　

Step 3

When serving, pass around the olive oil for people to dribble onto their soup and the lemon quarters for them to squeeze over.

　　

variation

Step 4

Make a fava bean purée, using half the quantity of water. Serve it with little bowls of ground cumin, paprika, ground chili pepper, lemon juice, and extra virgin olive oil for people to sprinkle on their purée as they wish. Serve it as a dip with bread.

　　Arabesque