Moroccan Bean Dip (Bessara)
By 
You’ll Need
- Medium rice cooker; fuzzy logic or on/off
- Food processor
- 1½ cups (375 mL) dried fava beans
- 6 cups (1.5 L) water
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1½ tsp (7 mL) salt
- 1 tsp (5 mL) ground cumin
- ½ tsp (2 mL) sweet paprika
- ½ tsp (2 mL) cayenne pepper
- ¼ cup (60 mL) freshly squeezed lemon juice
- ⅓ cup (75 mL) extra virgin olive oil
- Additional sweet paprika
- Finely chopped fresh parsley
Prep and Cook
- Sort, rinse and soak fava beans. Drain and peel off skins.
- Place soaked fava beans and water in the rice cooker bowl. Set the rice cooker for the Regular cycle and set a timer for 1½ hours.
- When the timer sounds, check to see if fava beans are tender. If necessary, continue cooking, checking for doneness every 5 minutes. Drain, reserving 3 Tbsp (45 mL) cooking liquid.
- In food processor, combine fava beans, reserved cooking liquid, garlic, salt, cumin, paprika, cayenne and lemon juice; purée until smooth. With the motor running, through the feed tube, drizzle in oil; process until blended.
- Transfer bean mixture to a large saucepan and heat over medium heat, stirring, until warmed through.
- Transfer to a shallow serving bowl. Dust with paprika and garnish with parsley.
