Welcome to MIAbites Guest Contributor, Yael Dravis who offers up this delicious and refreshing recipe for yellow split pea puree. 

Yael established her food blog “The Art of Smart Cooking” with a mission to cut the excess calories, fat, and sugar from recipes and transform them to healthier, leaner and lighter, while still keeping the food flavorful and appealing.  Her blog delivers healthy and contemporary recipes with a Middle Eastern influence since she was raised in Israel.  Follow her on Instagram @yaeldravis.

Yellow Split Pea Puree

Savory puree known as “Fava” in Greek is made of dried peeled yellow split peas, and can be served as an appetizer or meze dish along with your favorite flat bread. This dish is high in protein and dietary fibers, it is rich and has a creamy consistency and tastes delicious.

Ingredients:

1¼ cups of dried and peeled yellow split peas

1 yellow onion peeled and cut to quarters

½ lemon

2 garlic cloves peeled

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

½ teaspoon of salt

1 litter (quart) of cold water  

Serve with:

Dried oregano

Drizzle of extra virgin olive oil

Squeezed lemon

Black olives

Thinly sliced jalapeno papers

Thinly sliced red onions

Instructions:

Rinse the peas first, and place in a pot along with the onions, garlic cloves and the half lemon and combine with 1 liter of water. Do not add the salt and the olive oil yet.

Bring to a boil, while skimming the froth, reduce to heat to low cover the pot and let it cook until peas are very tender and absorbed most of the water.  (takes about 30 minutes to bring to a boil and skimming all the froth. And additional 1 hour to cook through.)

Remove the cooked lemon, and scoop out the cooked peas, onion and garlic and about ¼ cup of the liquid and put in a blender or food processor, add the salt and start pulsing to a very smooth and creamy consistency while adding the olive oil gradually. Consistency should look like puree, if it is too thin add some more of the cooking water from the pot.

Taste and correct seasoning.

To serve: scoop the puree to a serving plate, drizzle some olive oil, sprinkle some dried oregano, squeeze of lemon and serve along with your favorite flat bread, sliced Jalapeño peppers, black Kalamata olives and red onions.

The inspiration for the dish comes from “Greko” Greek restaurant in Tel Aviv and this is my version of their recipe from their beautiful book “Greko Greek Cuisine”.

Enjoy!