Bisara (Tunisian fava bean stew with merguez lamb sausage)
I've discovered that dried split favas and merguez each are surprisingly hard to find in Portland, but since you have a car you may have better luck. Olympia Provisions sometimes has merguez, as does my Whole Foods on NE Fremont (and they'll make it to order if you give them enough days notice). The favas sometimes can be found at Ethiopian shops (sometimes called "ful"), or at Fubonn or 99 Ranch. I think they may also be available at World Foods on NW Everett, but I haven't confirmed that recently.
Recipe originally from "Beans" by Aliza Green (0-7624-1931-8), but the below is my particular version of it, evolved over years of making and loving the dish.
I usually serve it with a simple salad of some sort of assertive green (arugula is nice), dressed with a fairly peppy homemade vinaigrette.
This is a whole pound of beans plus a pound of sausage, so be prepared for plenty of leftovers. It freezes very well, as most bean stews seem to.
Ingredients:
- 1 lb dried split fava beans
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 2 Tbl tomato paste
- 1 14oz can diced tomatoes
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 cups water
- 1 lb merguez sausage (cut into smaller pieces if you wish)
- 1 Tbl coriander seeds
- 2 tsp caraway seeds
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp cayenne (or to taste)
Method:
- Soak the fava beans overnight
- Drain and rinse the fava beans
- Toast the coriander and caraway seeds. After they've cooled, grind them finely.
- In a Dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium heat then add the tomato paste and cook for 5 minutes.
- Stir in the tomatoes (with their juice) and garlic then cook for 5 minutes longer.
- Add favas and water, bring to a boil, then simmer for about 25 minutes or until the favas start breaking apart.
- Add sausage, spices, and salt, then cook for about 15 minutes longer or until the favas and sausage are thoroughly cooked.
Alternatively, at step 6 add all ingredients, bring to a boil, then put the top on the Dutch oven and pop it into an oven pre-heated to about 300 degrees. Leave it there for a few hours, maybe checking once in a while to make sure it doesn't get too dry. The same method could work in a crock pot on low all day, but not having a crock pot I haven't tested this method.