Fażola bit-Tewm & the Spritzer Comeback
By on January 4, 2010 8:27 AM
During the summer months we tend to spend a lot more time outdoors, as the evenings are warmer and it's lighter for much longer. The children love to play in the back yard, jumping like crazy monkeys on the trampoline for hours on end while we sensibly sit on the porch sipping an apéritif or two.
On long, lazy summer days you tend to want something light to pick at prior to dinner. While we were down the coast we were consistently faithful with our apéritif and appetizer ritual and I think it's safe to say that the Cinzano Bianco Spritzer has made a definite comeback at our house.
One of my favourite Maltese appetizers is fażola bit-tewm, which is basically white butter beans with crushed garlic, fresh flat leaf parsley that is then lightly coated with good extra virgin olive oil. When we're in Malta I love to serve fażola with a bowl of fresh cherry tomatoes, some green Sicilian olives and peppered ġbejna. When we're in Melbourne, I just lament about the absence of ġbejna.
Fażola bit-Tewm - White Butter Beans with Garlic
You can either use dried white butter beans that you soak overnight and then boil or alternatively you can use the ready cooked and canned version.
Ingredients
400g tin of organic butter beans, drained weight 240g
3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
A bunch of flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
A generous glug of good extra virgin olive oil
Method
1. Drain and rinse the beans well. Add the garlic and parsley and a generous glug of olive oil.
2. Season to taste with some sea salt and freshly ground black pepper and serve.
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Mmm, I love the simplicity of this dish and can almost taste that wonderful garlic :-)
I used to work with someone from Malta who became a really good friend. It was quite cool because when I spoke Arabic or he spoke Maltese, we could, for the most part understand the discussion and then like children we would forget our work and just discuss the similarities and differences of the language and culture. We have this dish in Lebanon and it's called Fassolia bi toom... same thing almost... and totally realised that Jbegna had something to do with Jebne... or cheese.
Can't wait to visit Malta... have heard and read great stuff about it!
That looks simple and tasty. Probably even better when the beans are cooked from scratch. Obviously you wouldn't cook the beans specially for this as it would then lose the charm of its simplicity, but if it were a favourite it would be worth having cooked butter beans on hand. I cook legumes/pulses (usually chick peas and lentils in my case) once a week and then put in zip-loc bags in the fridge or freezer.
Will email you :D
My parents live in Malta (Sliema) + I have two tubs of these beans (bought in the corner shop, brought to Scotland by them for Christmas) in my fridge now, to be eked out by me on days when I really need them. I LOVE them! I've tried making my own but I cannot get the texture right. Tinned beans are too soft; beans you cook yourself go from that perfect toothsome stage to too floury within a window of about five seconds, it seems. Sigh. Still, butter beans are cheap, + none of the experiments are exactly vile... I persevere. Love your blog, reminds me of home. Am going back in February for Mum's 70th + am already looking forward to friends.
I keep telling Corrie that one of these days she should take a detour to Malta on her way to Scotland! If you meet us there she just may do it!
I love the simplicity of this! I must be careful not to eat the entire batch as I do need to breathe around others today!