Friday, August 14, 2009

Fava bean spread

It is the end of the Fava bean season, at least at my local organic market. These eccentric beans take some time to free from their shells but are well worth it. I created a fava bean spread for our block party last weekend, it was a hit!


I tried to pick Fava beans with less bruising on them, but found that the appearance of the outer shell had very little impact on inner bean.

The key to cooking with Fava beans is to buy more than you think you need because so much of the bean is shell.

Ingredients:

- 1 cup shelled fava
- 3 cloves garlic
- teaspoon chopped shallot
- half of lemon juiced
- olive oil (for cooking and finishing)
- salt and pepper to taste

Shelling is the most time consuming part of this recipe, put on some music and make yourself comfortable…


Shell fava beans while bringing pot of salted water to a boil. Boil shelled favas for one minute. Then drain and submerge them in ice water, this will help with the next shelling phase. Remove beans from translucent inner shell – often you will need to use your finger nail to free the beans.

Add the beans, some olive oil, a few tablespoons of water, crushed garlic and chopped shallots to a hot pan and sauté for 5 minutes. Then poor contents into food processor and blend, adding lemon juice, salt and pepper and olive oil to balance the consistency.

My favorite way to serve this spread is on toasted fresh baguette topped with parmesan cheese

... Next time I will have a photo of the finished product! we were so excited to eat we forgot to take a picture.