Bigilla 2, A Traditional Maltese Broad Bean Paste Made from Frozen or Fresh Broadbeans
Bigilla 2, A Traditional Maltese Broad Bean Paste Made from Frozen or Fresh Broadbeans
Steve Lister
This is a second version of Bigilla, the broad bean Maltese dish. I can't find any reference to it anywhere, so I presume its not traditionally made with fresh beans. It does make a similar paste to the traditional version using dry beans, though it tastes a little less nutty. Be careful when adding the stock (liquid from boiling the beans) back though, as they seems to need a lot less, because fresh beans contain a lot of their own.
I've used the original recipe. There is no need to soak overnight.
Ingredients
400-500 gm. frozen/fresh broad beans
1 large, red, fresh chilli, chopped finely
1 small bunch parsley, chopped finely
1 really small bunch of mint leaves, about 5 large leaves, chopped finely
2-3 cloves of garlic chopped
75 ml. Extra Virgin Olive oil
50 ml. cooking stock*, see step 5 of the instructions.
1 tsp. sea salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
Instructions
Place beans in a large pan, add enough water to cover, add a pinch of salt and bring to boil. Boil briskly for 5-10minutes.
5*Drain the beans, saving the cooking stock for later.
Place chilli, pepper, salt, olive oil, garlic, parsley, mint in a bowl and pur?e. I use a stick blender, but you can use any blender you have. It will start to thicken and become stiff, so add some of the cooking stock, a little by little, until it is of a spreadable consistency.
Serve in a bowl with an extra drizzle of olive oil on top. Garnish with a few parsley/mint leaves if you like.
If you want to keep it for a few days, put it in a tub while still hot, allow to cool and then cover with a thin layer of olive oil. Keep in the fridge.
