Skip to Content

Greek Fava and Bulgur Pie or Fava Fritters and Lemon Minted Yoghurt

Sharing is caring!

 

I will try and keep this post short because one of my son’s friends from Hungary is staying with us, so this is keeping me quite busy all day.

After our visit to AB Vassilopoulos storage centre, I wanted to showcase some recipes made with selected Greek products.  I made a Cheesecake with wild sour cherries, then I made an Apricot salad with Cretan rusks, rocket, oregano and vinegar and finally for a main dish I made a Fava and bulgur pie, using Fava Pheneou, whole meal flour from Thessaly, bulgur from Macedonia and Ladotyri, a Greek cheese from Mytilini island and of course also using some of the herbs and spices.

 

It turned out to be a delicious meal but also very healthy full of nutrients and fibre.  For a vegan dish you can leave out the cheese and it will still be delicious.

When you hear fava most of you may think of (Vicia Faba).   Don’t confuse Greek fava with fava beans, which are called “koukia” in Greek, although “vicia” and “vetches” are classified  in the same genus.  Greek fava (lathyrus clymenum), looks like yellow split peas, but is much tastier and is produced in various parts of Greece.  The most popular one is the one produced on Santorini Island, because of the volcanic soil and the climate of the island, which doesn’t need much water to grow.  If you are interested to learn more about this vetch, you can read more about it here.

If you also want to know what bulgur wheat is you can read about it here.

The amount I made was enough to make this dish twice.  You can keep it in the refrigerator for 4 – 5 days for months if you deep freeze it.  By making larger amounts and freezing it, I save time and money.

Greek Fava and Bulgur Pie or Fava Fritters, recipe by Ivy

Preparation time:  20

Cooking time: 45 minutes

Baking time:  1 hour 15 minutes

Serves:  2 baking dishes for 6 servings each or  1 baking tin and  about 40 fritters

Ingredients: 

500 grams Greek Fava (can be substituted by another vetch)

Water enough to cover the pulses

3 medium Potatoes, cubed

1 large red onion, coarsely cut

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

1 – 1 ½ tbsp salt

Water to cover

500 grams bulgur

2 cups whole wheat flour

1 cup fresh parsley, finely chopped

1 sprig fresh mint, finely chopped

1 sprig fresh oregano, finely chopped

3 – 4 whole green onions, white and green parts, finely chopped

1 tbsp dried peppermint (substitute with mint if you don’t have any)

2 tbsp Greek spice mixture

1 tsp dried oregano

Extra black pepper

1 tbsp salt

230 grams grated ladotyri cheese (substitute with graviera, kefalograviera, kefalotyri or halloumi)

1 cup of extra virgin olive oil for each baking tin or lots of olive oil for frying

Directions:

Put fava in a pot with enough water to cover it and bring to a boil.  Skim off the foam until it stops producing any.  Lower heat and simmer for about 15 – 20 minutes.  Drain, rinse and put it back in the pot with more fresh water to cover it.  Add potatoes, onion, olive oil and salt.  Bring to boil, lower heat and simmer until well cooked, almost mashed, for about 45 minutes.

Add the bulgur and any water, if necessary and let the bulgur absorb the water.  While you are waiting for it to soak, mash the pieces of potatoes with a potato masher or using a fork.  (You must have about twice as much water to bulgur.  If needed you will have to add more water.  Cover pot with a lid and wait until all the fluid is absorbed.

Add fresh herbs, spring onions, spices,  flour and grated cheese and mix well.  The final result should almost be like dough.

Brush a 33 x 23 cm / 13 x 9 inches Pyrex glass baking pan with a lot of olive oil.

Add the mixture and spread evenly to about 3 cm / 1 inch thickness.  Then cut into square or baklava shaped pieces and add the olive oil.  The purpose of this is to allow the olive oil to seep through the dough and make it easy to cut when cooked.

Preheat oven to 200 degrees C / 400 degrees F.  Lower heat to 180 C / 350 F and bake until golden brown for about 1 hour and 15 minutes.

Serve hot or cold with a salad or Lemony Minted Yoghurt.

 

I deep froze the other half but the second time instead of baking them I formed them into patties and coated them with whole meal flour and fried them in a lot of olive olive.  I used a small frying pan in order not to waste too much olive oil.

To accompany this dish I made Lemony Minted Yoghurt.  The recipe calls for roasted garlic, which has a milder taste than raw but unfortunately I have not posted yet.  In order to make it you can omit the garlic or just use a little bit for the flavour.

Lemony Minted Yoghurt, recipe by Ivy

Ingredients:

1 strained Greek yoghurt (200 ml)

1 tbsp olive oil from the roasted garlic

1 clove roasted garlic

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 tsp lemon zest

1 tbsp lemon juice

A pinch of Dijon Maille mustard

4 dried peppermint leaves (keep 1 for putting on top)

Directions:

Mash the garlic with a fork and add all the remaining ingredients and mix well.  Add some peppermint also on top and refrigerate for an hour before serving.

Serve as a side dish to Greek Dolmades me Avgolemono.

I am linking this post to Simona, of Briciole, who is hosting My Legume Love Affair # 49, the brainchild of Susan of The Well-Seasoned Cook.

Kopiaste and Kali Orexi,

Sharing is caring!

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

analy

Sunday 19th of August 2012

wow, nice recipe and its look delicious and healthy. I can't wait to do this later and really love it. thanks for sharing.

fimère

Sunday 15th of July 2012

une préparation à ravir toutes les papilles, j'aime beaucoup bonne journée

Nadji

Friday 13th of July 2012

Un menu vraiment délicieux. Ton invité hongrois a de la chance de pouvoir déguster tout ça. Je découvre des produits que je ne connais pas. A bientôt

Peter G

Friday 13th of July 2012

What gorgeous and delicious creations Ivy! The fritters look amazing!

Jamie

Thursday 12th of July 2012

Oh, Ivy, I see I have a few posts to catch up on! This is fantastic - I love such flavorful vegetarian dishes - the legumes and cheese combo is a winner every time for a great meal. I love this both ways but the individual fritters with that wonderful dipping sauce is the best!

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Privacy Policy · Copyright