Fool Nabed - Fava Bean Soup (Egyptian)

Nana Lee's Note:

From Saad Fayed, Fool nabed is an Egyptian soup made from fava beans. It is warm and filling. Serve alone or as an appetizer. Times do not include overnight soaking of favas.

• Total Time: 1 hrs 5 mins
• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Cook Time: 50 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 8

• 2 cups dried fava beans (or 4 cups canned fava or broad beans)
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, finely chopped
• water, used to soak fava beans

Directions:

1. Soak fava beans overnight.
2. Drain fava beans and save water.
3. Peel the skins from the fava beans and place the beans in large saucepan.
4. Measure 6 cups of soaking water and add to the fava beans.
5. Bring to a boil on medium high heat.
6. Reduce heat to medium and cook for 45 minutes, or until beans are soft.
7. Once beans are tender, remove beans from heat and puree in a blender.
8. Return pureed fava beans to saucepan and bring to a boil.
9. Add water if needed.
10. Stir in cumin, garlic, lemon juice and olive oil and bring to a second boil.
11. Simmer for 5 minutes. Serve in a bowl and sprinkle parsley on top.

Reviews

[zaar junkie]

I used the pressure cooker for this recipe, cooking the beans for 5 minutes with a natural release. Easy and quick to put together the only hassle was peeling all the beans. As is, the soup is very bland, but with a sprinkling of freshly ground pepper and seasoning salt, is very tasty. My bf loved this soup! Thanks for posting.

[bluemoon downunder]

Loved the sound of this - such fabulous ingredients! - and it fully lived up to my expectations. A superb blend of flavours, and I followed Kumquat's suggestion of blending it with an immersion blender, always the easiest option! Thanks for sharing, Nana Lee!

[Kumquat the Cat's friend]

Very thick and filling soup with a clean and simple taste. I love fava beans, and the seasonings were subtle but complementary. All I would recommend perhaps is some additional salt and pepper. We used canned beans, did not peel them and used a ricer to blend (easier than blender or food processor, or use an immersion blender if you have one). It worked out quite well. We only added a tablespoon of oil. Thanks Lee for an easy summer supper!