Velvety and soft fava, an appetizer that should not be missing from the table on Clean Monday. Prerequisite to be served with sun-dried tomatoes, capers, and chopped onion.

When I was little, everyone who approached Clean Monday was worried about good weather, which would allow us to experiment with flying the kite. Unfortunately, most of the time the weather was not on our side. You see I grew up in Florina, and usually on Clean Monday the cold or even the snow, accompanied us at the beginning of Lent.
A little bit of winter weather, a little bit of my innate tendency towards food, my main concern turned out to be what we would eat. As mountaineers we did not do well with seafood, however on this day they could not not have their honorary. In a small amount of course. Our table was filled with salads based on legumes and fasting appetizers. So wanting to honor my family tradition this year on Clean Monday my table will include the following.
My loved fava
The protagonist of the table could not be my favorite fava. An appetizer that has a unique velvety texture, but even more unique taste. As I am a man of contrasts, this velvety texture could not but pair with finely chopped crispy onion. While the earthy taste of fava, stands out even more from the accompaniment of sun-dried tomatoes and capers.
THE ESSENTIALS OF CLEAN MONDAY
The protagonist of the table may have been the fava, but to shine he needs worthy co-stars. So my table could not miss the lagana and the homemade white taramas. Next to them you will find tiny delicious homemade dolmadas, which no one can eat just one. The octopus could not help but make its appearance. Which this time I made with rice following the logic of this recipe here. While the table is complemented by a salad based on legumes, which is very similar to the one I have made in the past and can be found here. I may not have a recipe for halva but I have semolina with chocolate for halva, which you can find here.

Recipe ingredients
So if this Clean Monday you would also like to taste this velvety appetizer then all you have to do is get the following:
- Split peas
- Carrot
- Onion
- Lemon
My way of serving definitely includes sun-dried tomatoes, capers and very finely chopped onion.



Velvety fava
Ingredients
- 8 tbsp olive oil
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 1 carrot, grated
- 200 gr split peas (fava beans)
- 1,2-1,4 lt boiling water
- salt
- freshly ground black pepper
- lemon juice from one lemon
For serving
- sundried tomatoes
- capers
- onion cut into thin slices
Instructions
- In a saucepan, over medium to high heat, add the olive oil and wait for it to heat up. Then add the chopped onion and carrot. Saute for 4-5 minutes or until the vegetables soften.
- Then add the fava beans, mix with a wooden spoon and add 1.2 liters of boiling water. Add salt and pepper.
- Boil on low heat, stirring constantly, until the water evaporates and the fava beans soften.
- Add the fava into the food processor, add the lemon juice, a little olive oil and beat until the ingredients are homogenous.
- Serve with sun-dried tomatoes, capers and onions. Sprinkle with a little olive oil.

So that’s my suggestion for the Clean Monday table. Velvety and soft fava, an appetizer that should not be missing from your table. Prerequisite to be served with sun-dried tomatoes, capers, and chopped onion.
I would be thrilled to hear from you. Even more, if you make my recipe and post a photo of it. Just don’t forget to share your photo under the hashtag #tetisflakes. Please do not hesitate to comment below or contact me on Instagram, or Facebook or Twitter!
BECOME A MEMBER OF TETI’S FLAKES FAMILY
Have you subscribed to Teti’s flakes newsletter? As a subscriber, you will have access to exclusive content such as the series of the ebook “The flavors of the Seasons” and “Food photography – going from Auto to Manual“.
So if you want to become a subscriber, you may sign in here. After signing in you will receive a confirmation email. Attention, the email may end up in the Spam folder. Once you find it, all you have to do is confirm your email and that’s it!
Leave a Reply