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Yellow Split Pea Purée with Buttered Onions and Caper Sauce

Elena Heatherwick

BY The Editors

PUBLISHED December 7, 2021

Yotam’s love affair with the Mediterranean means those signature staples—fatty olive oil, salty feta, briny capers!—permeate both his home kitchen and the OTK. This purée is a take on fava, a Greek mezze dish of yellow split peas with capers and red onion. It’s fantastic served as a dip, but also works alongside broiled fish or roasted meat. – The Ottolenghi test kitchen

 

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Yellow Split Pea Purée with Buttered Onions and Caper Sauce

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Makes 6 servings as a dip, or 4 as a side 1x

Time 1 hour and 45 minutes

Units Scale

Ingredients

  • 3 tbsp unsalted butter
  • 3 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 red onions, finely chopped
  • 1 cup/180g yellow split peas, rinsed well and drained
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
  • Salt

For the caper sauce

  • 2 tablespoons capers, roughly chopped
  • 1/4 cup/5g parsley, finely chopped
  • 2 thin lemon slices, seeds discarded and the slices finely chopped (flesh, rind, and all)
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil

Instructions

  1. Put the butter, 2 tablespoons of oil, the onions, and 3/4 teaspoon of salt into a large sauté pan, for which you have a lid, on medium heat, and cook for 15-18 minutes, stirring often, until soft and deeply golden. Transfer half the onions, along with most of the oil and melted butter, to a small bowl and set aside, to serve.
  2. Add the split peas, turmeric, 5 cups/1.2 liters of water, and 3/4 teaspoon of salt to the pan with the remaining onions and bring to a simmer on medium-high heat. Lower the heat to medium and cook for 20 minutes, uncovered. Cover with the lid and cook for another 40–45 minutes, or until the split peas are very soft and most of the liquid has evaporated.
  3. Meanwhile, combine all the ingredients for the caper sauce together in a small bowl.
  4. While the split peas are still warm, put them, together with any remaining cooking water and the last 1 tablespoon of oil, into a food processor and blitz until completely smooth.
  5. Spoon into a shallow dish, creating a dip in the middle. Mix the buttered onions with the caper sauce, then spoon on to the dip. Serve warm, or at room temperature.

— Recipe from Ottolenghi Test Kitchen: Shelf Love

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