Serves: 4
Difficulty of recipe preparation: Easy
Preparation time: 5 mins
Cooking time: 40 minutes
Ingredients
- 400 g split dried faba beans
- 3 large garlic cloves
- 1 tsp salt
- 11 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 lemons, juiced
To serve
- cumin paprika
- olive oil
Method
- Place the faba beans and garlic in a large pan and cover with 1.5 litres of cold water.
- Cover the pan and cook on a medium high heat until they are soft enough to easily purée (about 40 minutes). Skim occasionally.
- Purée the beans and garlic, either by hand or in a food processor, according to your preferred texture.
- Stir in the olive oil, spices and lemon juice.
- The consistency can be adjusted: for a thinner soup, mix in more hot water; for a thicker dip, boil the beans with less water.
- Serve the bessara hot, drizzled with olive oil and seasoned with cumin and paprika.
Tip: If you can’t get hold of dried faba beans, you can substitute them for the same quantity of cannellini or butter beans.
This recipe comes courtesy of the Global Pulse Confederation.