One of my favorite new-ish shows is PBS’s No Passport Required with Marcus Samuelsson. Each episode explores the immigrant communities and food within different U.S. cities. There have only been 6 shows, but I’m hooked. Each episode includes Chef Samuelsson meeting, hanging out, and eating with members of the different immigrant communities in Detroit, New Orleans, Chicago, Queens, Miami, and Washington, D.C.
Not only is the show really interesting and informative, it’s difficult to not get hungry while watching,! PBS luckily includes some recipes on their website. But there was one I was hoping they’d post and at least as of this post, it’s not there: Ful Medames from the Washington, D.C. episode which highlighted the Ethiopian community in our nation’s capital.
Ful Medames is a breakfast dish of mashed fava beans, topped with hard boiled eggs, feta cheese, tomato, and jalapeno. I’ve had a bag of dried fava beans sent to me from Bob’s Red Mill in my pantry for a while now, and I knew they were destined for this recipe. Not only does Ful Medames sound fantastic, but my husband is currently training for a marathon, and this sounded like the perfect fuel after a long training run.
Ful Medames gets a lot of its flavor from a spice blend called berbere. Berbere is an Ethiopian spice mixture that usually includes chilies, garlic, ginger, basil, fenugreek, coriander, and cardamom. It is spicy, but I adjusted so this version doesn’t have too much heat. Feel free to add more for spiciness. For my local Philadelphians, I found berbere in The Head Nut in Reading Terminal, but there are recipes online to make your own at home if you don’t live near a spice shop. Penzey’s also has a version of berbere.
My version isn’t terribly authentic, but the general idea is there. I used soft boiled eggs instead, solely because I don’t love hard boiled eggs. Feel free to substitute in hard-boiled.
Note: Before cooking with the fava beans, be sure to soak them overnight.
Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 cups dried fava beans, soaked overnight
- 5 cups water, plus more as needed
- 4 tablespoons olive oil, divided, plus more for serving
- 1 medium sized onion, finely chopped
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 1/2 teaspoons berbere, divided
- 3/4 teaspoon cumin, divided
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- 4 eggs (omit for vegan)
- 1 tomato (or ~4 oz cherry tomatoes), finely chopped
- 1 jalapeno, seeds and membranes removed, finely chopped
- 2 oz feta cheese (omit for vegan)
- 2 green onions, thinly sliced
- the juice of 1 lemon
- Pita bread, for serving (omit for gluten free)
After soaking the fava beans overnight, drain and rinse. Add to a large pot with 5 cups water.
Bring fava beans and water to boil. Lower to simmer, cover, and cook for 45 minutes. Check on the beans from time to time. You want there to still be a little bit of water at the end to help break down the fava beans, like in the photo below. Add more water, if needed, during the cooking process.
Add 2 tablespoons olive oil to a large sauté pan over medium high heat. Add in the 1 minced onion and 4 garlic cloves. Sauté until fragrant, about 3 minutes.
Sprinkle with 1 teaspoon berbere and ½ teaspoon cumin, stirring to combine.
When the fava beans are done cooking, and most of the water has been absorbed, lower the heat to medium low and add 2 tablespoons olive oil. Cook, stirring, and pressing on the fava beans to mash them.
Season with salt, pepper, ½ teaspoon berbere and ¼ teaspoon cumin.
Stir the garlic onion mixture into the beans.
To make the eggs, bring a saucepan with a few inches of water to a rolling boil. Reduce to a simmer and gently lower the eggs into the water one at a time. Cook for 6 ½ minutes (this gives you a nearly firm yolk). Remove the eggs from the water with a slotted spoon and run under tap water to cool. Carefully crack and peel the eggs.
When ready to eat, divide the mashed fava beans among four bowls. Top with each bowl with chopped tomato, jalapeno, one egg cut in half, feta cheese and green onions. Drizzle with olive oil and a squeeze of lemon juice.
I absolutely love this dish!
The fava beans are so satisfying, and have a nice flavor and subtle heat from the berbere and cumin. The mashed beans are complimented by the acid from the tomatoes and lemon, creaminess added from the olive oil and feta, and a nice crunch and a bit more heat from the jalapeno. The runny egg on top is just perfect! I love that you can kind of customize the toppings to meet your tastes.
My husband came back from his run and absolutely devoured this. Fava beans are a great source of fiber, protein and iron, so this is an awesome breakfast after a long workout.
No Passport Required is more than a show for recipe inspiration. It digs into immigrant communities across the nation and the contributions they make to the United States. I hope they make more episodes!
Ful Medames
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups dried fava beans soaked overnight
- 5 cups water plus more as needed
- 4 tablespoons olive oil divided, plus more for serving
- 1 medium sized onion finely chopped
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- 1 1/2 teaspoons berbere divided
- 3/4 teaspoon cumin divided
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 4 eggs omit for vegan
- 1 to mato or ~4 oz cherry tomatoes, finely chopped
- 1 jalapeno seeds and membranes removed, finely chopped
- 2 oz feta cheese omit for vegan
- 2 green onions thinly sliced
- the juice of 1 lemon
- Pita bread for serving (omit for gluten free)
Instructions
- After soaking the fava beans overnight, drain and rinse. Add to a large pot with 5 cups water.
- Bring fava beans and water to boil. Lower to simmer, cover, and cook for 45 minutes. Check on the beans from time to time. You want there to still be a little bit of water at the end to help break down the fava beans, like in the photo below. Add more water, if needed, during the cooking process.
- Add 2 tablespoons olive oil to a large sauté pan over medium high heat. Add in the 1 minced onion and 4 garlic cloves. Sauté until fragrant, about 3 minutes.
- Sprinkle with 1 teaspoon berbere and ½ teaspoon cumin, stirring to combine.
- When the fava beans are done cooking, and most of the water has been absorbed, lower the heat to medium low and add 2 tablespoons olive oil. Cook, stirring, and pressing on the fava beans to mash them.
- Season with salt, pepper, ½ teaspoon berbere and ¼ teaspoon cumin.
- Stir the garlic onion mixture into the beans.
- To make the eggs, bring a saucepan with a few inches of water to a rolling boil. Reduce to a simmer and gently lower the eggs into the water one at a time. Cook for 6 ½ minutes (this gives you a nearly firm yolk). Remove the eggs from the water with a slotted spoon and run under tap water to cool. Carefully crack and peel the eggs.
- When ready to eat, divide the mashed fava beans among four bowls. Top with each bowl with chopped tomato, jalapeno, one egg cut in half, feta cheese and green onions. Drizzle with olive oil and a squeeze of lemon juice.
Great ! Congrats from Paris !
Anna
amazing, detailed recipe, love it
i usually make this from canned beans but this is the real deal !!
https://ohmyfalafel.com.au/blog-ful-medames-post-workout-superfood/
Hi
Looks Delicious. But can you tell me how much Protein does it have?
Thanks
Dance of Stoves recently posted..Healthy Vegan Feta Cheese (Fat & Cholesterol Free)