Dried broad bean and cashew nut dip

This wonderful dip has taken over from hummus in my house. Dried broad beans are underrated in Western culture. So many people who have tasted this dip have told me they didn’t even know you could find dried broad beans. You can, although you may need to hunt around a little. But when you find them, stock up, as they store well and have many uses. I invented this recipe by accident. One day, with only one packet of broad beans left, I opened my cupboard in search of something to bulk up a dip and, lo and behold, there were some cashew nuts. I toasted them and added them to the mix and the result was even better than its previous incarnation – which is why I have to share this recipe with you.

Credit: Hachette Australia

• serves

  6

• prep

  15 minutes

• cook

  45 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 200 g dried broad beans
• 200 g toasted cashew nuts
• 1 tsp thyme leaves, finely chopped, plus extra to garnish
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
• 2 large lemons, finely grated zest and juice
• 4 tbsp garlic oil
• 4–6 tbsp olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
• sea salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

Boil the dried broad beans according to the packet instructions until cooked and soft (approximately 45 minutes, depending on the size of the beans used). Drain and set aside, reserving some of the boiling liquid in case you need it to slacken the mixture later.

Put the drained broad beans, the cashew nuts, thyme, crushed garlic, lemon zest and juice, garlic oil, olive oil and a generous quantity of salt and pepper into a food processor and blitz until broken down. If the mixture is too thick, add a little of the reserved liquid (or more olive oil, if preferred) and blitz again until smooth. Taste the mixture and adjust the seasoning if necessary (the dip does like a lot of salt, as broad beans are naturally sweet).

Transfer the dip to a bowl. Sprinkle over the remaining thyme leaves, drizzle with a little olive oil and serve.

Recipes and images from Sirocco, Fabulous Flavours From The East by Sabrina Ghaynour (Hachette Australia, $39.99, hbk).

View our Readable feasts review and more recipes from the book here.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.