Fava Bean Soup with Harissa

Photo by Dave Katz for The Jewish Food Society

Can a holiday be summed up by a dish? Yep, most definitely can. For the jewish holiday of Sukkot it is this recipe of a simple fava bean soup with garlicky lemony harissa. Ron’s grandfather was always in charge of making the pita to go with it so every guest to the sukkah would get fresh pita bread with a comforting bowl of soup.

Makes: 6 to 8 servings
Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients:

for the soup
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon ground turmeric
4 garlic cloves, minced
6 cups water
3 cups (14 ounces) dried split fava beans, rinsed

for the Harissa sauce:
3 tablespoons Signature Harissa
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons Preserved Lemon Paste
4 garlic cloves, minced

Preparation
1. Heat the olive oil in a medium pot over medium-high heat. Add the turmeric and garlic, and cook until aromatic, 1 minute. Add in the water and fava beans, then bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and cook, covered, until the beans are tender(can go from 30 to 90 minutes depending on the fava bean)

2. Meanwhile, mix the harissa, oil, preserved lemon paste and garlic in a small bowl and stir to combine. Add more of the preserved lemon paste if you need more saltines/tanginess.

3. Transfer the beans and the cooking liquid to a blender and puree until smooth. Season with salt.

4. Divide between bowls and garnish with a spoon of the harissa mixture (from step 2) on each. Serve with fresh warm pita.

signature harissa recipes, preserved lemon paste recipes, soup recipes, beans, vegetable recipes