Breakfast-Style Fava Bean Spread with Jammy Eggs and Crumbled Feta Cheese
In Egypt, fava beans are often eaten for breakfast, served as a spread on grilled flatbread. This iconic dish combines boiled and peeled fava beans with a hefty dose of extra virgin olive oil, garlic, cumin, lemon juice, flat-leaf parsley, and sumac for flavor. Regional variations add tahini to enhance its creamy texture and subtle nutty flavor. Traditionally, Ful Medames is garnished with spicy chiles, thinly sliced red onions and feta cheese.
An homage to the stellar Egyptian dish, this recipe creates a high-protein spread that hits all the right flavor notes paired with garlic flatbread or spread over whole-grain sunflower seed toast, then topped with a jammy hard-boiled egg and crumbled feta. It shines in a grilled pita with chopped tomatoes, smeared over a warm corn tortilla with slivered serrano chiles and salty Mexican queso fresco cheese, or served as a side dish paired with chicken shawarma and falafel.
The culinary trick that makes this dish work is lightly caramelizing the onions before adding them to the fava beans and spices. This complements the subtle, nutty, and earthy taste of the legumes while adding heft to the dip. A versatile dish on rotation in my home, I use this fava bean dip as an amuse bouche for impromptu guests with crudites or as a quick and healthy foundation for on-the-go meals.
Melissa’s exceptional product, Peeled and Steamed Fava Beans, takes the hard work out of these dishes since all the prep—soaking, boiling and peeling fava beans, a process that takes almost three hours from scratch— is done for you. And… without compromising on taste or texture! This underutilized legume adds healthy, plant-based protein to the dip, while the avocado lends a luscious, creamy mouthfeel and healthy monounsaturated fats to the mix. The acids are tempered by mixing a sweet Meyer lemon with a bracing Eureka lemon, which rounds out the taste in the finished dish.
Breakfast-Style Fava Bean Spread with Jamy Eggs and Crumbled Feta Cheese
Makes: 4 cups
Ingredients
2 packages of Melissa’s Peeled and Steamed Fava Beans, rinsed and drained
1 ½ tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 medium white onion, peeled and chopped into a medium dice
½ teaspoon whole cumin seed
½ teaspoon sugar
½ teaspoon Kosher flake salt
4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, about 1 large juicy lemon
2 tablespoons Meyer lemon juice, about 1 juicy Meyer lemon
1 large ripe Hass Avocado
1 teaspoon kosher flake salt
Garnishes
1 serrano chili, seeded and thinly sliced
Crumbled feta or queso fresco cheese
Red chile flakes
Minced cilantro
Thinly sliced red onion
Preparation
Place all ingredients into a food processor and pulse about 10 times. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, then purée for about 10 seconds or until the ingredients are chunky yet smooth. Do not over purée.
Place fava bean mixture into a serving bowl, and pair with several types of bread and garnishes.
