Doddington Hall

Kitchen Garden Bessara by Amy Claridge

This recipe features seasonal broad beans, which have been around for some 5000 years! This soup is fairly common in North Africa - the Berber name for it is ‘Talsha’, in Arabic it is ‘Bessara’. Its classic Moroccan spice combination of paprika and cumin means that it’s an evocative way of making broad beans feel rather exotic! You could try this with other beans, if you wish. You could also try adding a little piece of preserved lemon just before you whiz it, and leave the lemon juice off the end.

Method
Bring a saucepan of water to the boil, add the broad beans, garlic and salt. Reduce the heat and simmer for thirty minutes. In a clean small frying pan, roast the spices a little. Liquidise the contents of the saucepan, adding the spices. Season with salt to taste. Serve with a drizzle of olive oil, and a squeeze of lemon juice.

Ingredients
500g fresh broad beans, shelled
4 garlic cloves, peeled and roughly chopped
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp ground cumin (or cumin seed which you grind yourself after toasting)
Salt, to taste.
1 litre of water
A drizzle of olive oil
A squeeze of lemon juice.

Serves 2-4. (Kitchen Garden cooking 19 July 2008)

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