Moroccan pea soup – Bessara
4 comments May 6th, 2010 | By Tobias | Category: Recipes, Soups
I found fresh peas at the market and decided to use them for a Moroccan pea soup. A great, thick, slighly spicy soup called Bessara. The soup can also be made with dried or frozen peas, tastes great too.
I could not find fresh coriander that day, but you certainly should put some.
preparation time: 40 minutes
difficulty: easy
Ingredients:
- 450 gram of fresh peas or 300 gram of dried ones
- 4 cloves of garlic
- 1 red onion
- 2 tea spoons cumin
- 1/2 chili pepper
- 1 liter of water
- 2 soup spoons of coriander green or parsley
- salt and pepper
- some Argan oil and olive oil
Preparation:
In case you use dried peas you will have to soak them over night and the boiling time might extend a bit. You have to try.
Peel and cube the onions. Brown them in a pan with some olive oil until they are dark.
Add the cumin, the chili, the miced garlic and fry for a couple of minutes. Then add the peas to the water and let it boil for 20 minutes.
Puree the soup with a mixer. Leave some peas as a whole, though.
Add the chopped greens. Sprinkle some argan oil over it and serve.
We still get some cool Spring days and this soup would be perfect…complete with warming cumin.
Perfect when it’s cold outside… Great flavors!
Cheers,
Rosa
A wonderful soup! Great addition of cumin and chili!
Hi Tobias!
I make this soup often myself for the family. In fact, I blogged about it!
I never made it with fresh peas so this is something to try! Usually Bissara is made (here) with dried split peas or even dried fava beans.