Spicy Ful Medames (Fava Beans) With Olive Oil and Chile Recipe

Ful medames, or stewed fava beans, is a staple dish all over the Levant where it is often served for breakfast. Some versions, like the tahini-enriched Cairo-style ful preferred by my Egyptian friend Alex, are mild-mannered and comforting. His father Tarek, however, makes a version that is rich and full-flavored.

Tarek doesn't use much of the canned bean liquid to make his ful; he prefers to drown his beans in olive oil, then adds, in his son's words, "too much garlic, too much lemon, and too much cumin." That over-abundance of olive oil—use a decent one you don't mind using too much of, like the peppery stuff in bulk glass jugs from Lebanon—makes for a ridiculously intense-tasting ful, bolstering the favas' natural grassiness and adding incredible richness to the broth.

As long as we're gilding the lily, I like this kind of ful pretty spicy, so in addition to extra cumin I throw in a small handful of chile flakes. (Harissa or shatta would work nicely here, too.) Just don't skimp on the lemon to cut through all the fat and heat.

You can serve this with pita alone if you're in a hurry, but if you have the time, I recommend garnishing bowls with tomato-cucumber salad, labne or a soft cheese, maybe even some balls of falafel.