Fava Bean and Asparagus

Wine: Portal N. Sra Portal Terra Alta Roble 2004

Spring is here! First Strawberries at the Farmer’s Market. First Asparagus. First Fava Beans!

We made Fava Bean Pasta, one of our very favorite pasta recipes. It reheats well, always an important aspect for us.

We bought lots of asparagus and decided to make two different recipes on two different days.

The first night we made Asparagus with Parmesan Cheese. The recipe is from The Classic Italian Cookbook by Marcella Hazan. The Asparagus is first cooked in boiling water until still crisp. The asparagus is then removed from the water and put in a ceramic dish. It is then sprinkled with Parmesan Cheese and topped with butter. The dish is placed in a very hot 450 degree oven until golden brown on top.

On the second night we made Asparagus, Florentine from the Fine Art of Italian Cooking by Giuliano Bugialli. It is a great recipe, the asparagus is sautéed in butter (Cathy browned the butter first) with parmesan cheese then removed from the pan. Eggs are lightly fried in the remaining butter and then placed on the asparagus and served. It is very rich and good.

For desert we served the fresh cut Strawberries, I topped mine with Grand Marnier.

Bacon and Fava Bean Pasta
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1 lb. Linguini
1 ½ Onions
2 Garlic Cloves
2 Pounds fresh Fava Beans (start with about 5 pounds pods)
½ Cup White Wine
½ Pound Bacon
3 Tablespoons Olive Oil
1 Cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
Hand full of fresh chopped sage

1. Prepare the fava beans by removing all beans from the pod. Then blanch beans for 1 minute. Then peel the skin from the blanched beans. Discard the skin.
2. Chop bacon and sauté but not too crisp
3. Remove bacon from pan, pour off bacon fat
4. Add olive oil and sauté onion and garlic till soft and translucent
5. Add wine, boil till almost all evaporates leaving ¼ cup of liquid left in pan
6. Using wooden spoon scrape and deglaze the pan retaining the brown bits from the bottom of the pan in the liquid
7. Add chopped sage, peeled beans, and bacon and sauté until hot
8. Toss with cooked pasta and add grated parmesan cheese

Serve and enjoy!