Fava

Fava

Fava is a traditional Greek dish of yellow split peas, pureed with onion and olive oil. It is standard fare in tavernas all over Greece and makes a simple alternative to houmous on any family table. Heartier than a dip, Yiayia serves her fava topped with a spring onion garnish as a meze, starter or side dish.

It is delicious spread on warm crusty bread.


Recipe

Serves 6

Preparation Time – 5 minutes

Cooking Time – 45 minutes

Ingredients

  • 250g split yellow peas
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 medium onion (roughly chopped)
  • salt & pepper to taste

Garnish

  • Spring onion (chopped)
  • Parsley (chopped)
  • Olive oil (drizzle)

Method

Rinse the split yellow peas under cold water and place in a saucepan.

Add the onion and olive oil and cover with cold water. Season with salt and pepper and stir.

Bring to the boil, then lower the heat to medium, loosely cover with a lid and cook until very soft and mushy, with no crunch.

Check every now and then, stir and see if it needs any more water. Any froth that appears on the surface, remove with a spoon and discard.

When cooked, mix with a hand blender to achieve a creamy texture.

Transfer to a smart bowl, garnish with spring onion, parsley and drizzle with olive oil.

Yiayia thinks Fava is fantastic as a side dish with grilled fish or roast lamb or pork.

Yiayia also likes to serve Fava with a Vinaigrette or Latholemono (olive oil and lemon) sauce with chopped spring onion.

Yiayia’s tip: to speed up the cooking process, place your split yellow peas in a bowl of cold water for half an hour, before cooking.

Yiayia’s tip: if you don’t have any split yellow peas, split red lentils will work just as well. The end result is fairly similar.


To serve

Vinaigrette Sauce with spring onion

Ingredients

  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1½ tbsp white wine vinegar
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 spring onion (chopped)

Method

  • Mix all the above ingredients in a bowl using a fork.

Latholemono Sauce (olive oil and lemon) with spring onion

Ingredients

  • juice of half lemon
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 spring onion (chopped)

Method

  • Mix all the above ingredients in a bowl using a fork.

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