RECIPE: Fava Beans with Escarole

Delicate, slippery and slightly irritating to work with, fava beans are the crying newborns of so many spring menus. While they’ll always pique your interest with their deliberate need for notice, you may not be sure how to handle them at home.

However, if blanched before use, fava beans will easily pop right out of their tough outer shell and leave you wondering why you weren’t using them all year round. The answer? They weren’t in season!  But they are now, so stop wasting time and start adding these sweet, tender beans to your everyday meals.

This is a simple interpretation of a classic spring recipe.  Feel free to adjust the ingredients and proportions to your liking.

Fava Beans with Escarole, Pecorino and Mint

INGREDIENTS

  • 2 cups shelled fava beans
  • 2 cups chopped escarole (or other leafy green of your choice)
  • small bunch chopped mint leaves
  • ¾ cup grated Pecorino-Romano
  • zest and juice of 1 lemon
  • 3 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
  • Salt and Pepper to taste
     

DIRECTIONS

  1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Remove favas from their pods by peeling back their seam and sliding out the beans.
     
  2. Blanche beans in boiling water for 1 minute, drain in a colander and immediately submerge in boiling water to stop cooking time. 
     
  3. When cool, pinch the top of the bean shell and remove favas. Discard shells.
     
  4. In a large bowl, combine favas with escarole, mint, ¾ cup Pecorino-Romano and lemon zest. Drizzle olive oil and lemon juice and toss. Add salt and pepper to taste.


Mallory Stuchin studied Ashtanga Yoga in Mysore, India and has taught classes at PURE Yoga and New York University. She is also a natural foods chef and a vegetable butcher at Eataly.

Contact Us