Fava Bean Pasta

Wine:
Stefano Farina Barolo 2001
Saracina Mendocino Blanc Sauvignon Blanc 2003

Bea came over for dinner. At Lucques Restaurant we had a great salad and decided to make one like it for a starter. The Salad was made from Belgium Endive, We couldn’t decide on the correct Feta Cheese to use, so we used two different Feta cheeses (goat and sheep - both French) we added Pitted Black Olives and Pixie Orange slices. We made a lemon and olive oil dressing. It was great!

The main course was Fava Bean Pasta. This particular version was exceptionally good. Cathy sautéed the onions for an extra long time and they were extra sweet. Fava beans are best in spring when they are young. You have to buy a lot (4 to 5 pounds) then remove the beans from their pod. This can take an hour to do and is best done on the patio while drinking wine. The beans are then par boiled for a minute or so and given a second peeling to remove the skin. This is really an easy and extremely delicious pasta.

For dessert we had German Chocolate Cake.


Bacon and Fava Bean Pasta
========================

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

Fava Bean Pasta

We we made our first Fava Bean Pasta of the year. Fava’s come into the market in the spring. Tom grows them in his garden and gave us some. They require double peeling, first the pod to release the bean, then a quick boil of the bean to allow you to pinch off the skin of the bean leaving just the fava bean without a skin. From a huge volume of Fava Beans you get a cup or cup and half of shelled beans. It is best NOT to cut your finger nails before you start shelling the beans. The pasta is one of my favorites. Fava’s, and Bacon (my favorite seasoning) and onions. You can find the recipe in our blog of: April 30, 2008. Just click the date to get the recipe.

We started with a Tomato Salad with Burrata and Pesto. Excellent dinner! A favorite of ours!

Fava Bean Pasta

We made one of our favorite pastas: Fava Bean Pasta. We really like the taste of fresh spring favas, bacon (my favorite seasoning), the sage and onion. We have published pictures and the recipe for the pasta many times. You can find it at our blog of: April 30, 2008. Click the date to get the recipe.

Fava beans have to be peeled twice. With your fingers open the pod and then remove the beans. When all of the pods are empty, boil water and put the beans in for about 30 seconds to 1 minute. Remove the beans from the water, drain, cool with cold water then with your fingers peel the beans slipping the skin off. They are then ready for the sauce.

Interestingly we met two of our friends, Scott and Tom at Silverlake Wine on Monday night and Tom brought a bag of fresh beans from his garden. We simply peeled the favas and ate them like candy they were so sweet. They are also good in salads.

We made a simple Lettuce / Tomato Salad to go with the Fava Bean Pasta.

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
======================

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!

Fabulous Pasta!

When Spring arrives we always make our favorite dishes. We started by making Fava Bean Puree. At the Hollywood Farmer’s Market, fresh young fava bean appeared and we purchased several pounds. Favas require lots of peeling, first the bean from the large shell, then par-boiling the beans, and finally peeling the bean itself. I don’t mind sitting on the deck in the sun peeling them, but this time they sold beans that had been removed from the pods. They still have a slippery skin that easily slips off after boiling for a minute or two. Then you can start to make the puree. We simmer the beans in Olive Oil, garlic and Thyme then remove the thyme and puree. We served the puree on top of burrata cheese in a spring salad. It brought back all of the tastes of spring. We will be making this some more this spring and summer! Fava’s have a fairly long season. This recipe was modified by Cathy from the Chez Panisse Vegetables cookbook.

We then had a fabulous pasta that uses fresh spring peas: Orecchiette Carbonara with English Peas and Pea Shoots. This is a really good dish!

orecchiette carbonara with english peas and pea shoots
from Sunday Suppers at Lucques

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
4 ounces applewood-smoked bacon, diced
6 ounces pancetta, diced
4 extra-large eggs
1 1/2 cups grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
1 1/2 pounds orecchiette pasta
1 1/2 cups finely diced onions
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon thyme leaves
2 cups freshly shucked peas (from 2 1/4 pounds in the pod)
3 ounces pea shoots
2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Spaghetti carbonara was one of the simpler dishes in my dad's weekend repertoire, and it was by far my all-time favorite thing to make with him. After chopping the bacon, snipping the parsley, and grating the cheese, my sister and I would stand back and watch the grand master perform the final act. As he whisked the eggs and tossed in the piping-hot noodles, we marveled at the transformation of our seemingly simple and innocent ingredients into a magnificent bowl of indul¬gence. It all happened in a matter of seconds; unlike his laborious stews, which took hours to make, this meal was all about instant gratification.

In the spring, I stray from tradition and add lots of sweet peas and pea shoots to Dad's original formula. The shape of orecchiette pasta suits this dish well; the "little ears" capture the sauce inside, ensuring plenty of flavor in every bite. If you can't find orecchiette, use spaghetti or penne.

NOTE: When you add the eggs, they should be warmed just enough to thicken them, so they coat the pasta. If you overcook them, the eggs will curdle and scramble. If the sauce is very soupy, then the eggs haven't cooked enough. In that case, I place the bowl of pasta directly over a very low flame, stirring or tossing for a few seconds, to cook the eggs until the sauce just thickens and coats the orecchiette. For this reason, I like to use a stainless steel bowl.

Bring a large pot of heavily salted water to a boil.

Heat a large Dutch oven over high heat for i minute. Swirl in the olive oil, and add the bacon and pancetta. Turn the heat down to medium-high and cook about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the bacon and pancetta are slightly crisped but still tender.

Meanwhile, whisk the eggs, egg yolks, and 1 1/4 cup cheese together in a large stainless steel bowl. Season lightly with salt and pepper.

Drop the pasta into the rapidly boiling water.

Add the onion, garlic, and thyme to the bacon, and cook about 6 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onion is translucent. Just before the pasta is ready, stir in the peas, coating them well with the onion and bacon.

As the pasta cooks, measure out and reserve about a cup of the hot pasta water. When the pasta is al dente, drain it and immediately add it to the bacon mixture, with i teaspoon salt, tossing well. Grind lots of black pepper into the pot, and cook i to 2 minutes more, stirring well to incorporate. Add the orecchiette to the eggs, stirring vigorously to "cook" the eggs and coat the pasta in the egg "sauce" (see note). Season with salt and pepper to taste. If the mixture seems too thick, add a little of the reserved pasta water. Toss in the pea shoots and parsley, and transfer to a warm shallow bowl. Sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup cheese over the top.

Fava Bean Puree and Past

Home Grown Fava Beans

We planted Fava Beans but for some reason had only a small crop. It did yield us enough however to make Fava Bean Puree which we really like. We served it on Toast Points. You can get the recipe on our blog of March 28, 2006. Click the date to get the recipe. We tried a new recipe for Zucchini Pasta. We actually decided we prefer our traditional recipe. You can see our traditional recipe You can find the recipe for this simple and delicious pasta in our blog of: June 19, 2009. Click the date to get the recipe. This is one of those dishes that makes me realize I could be a vegetarian (theoretically speaking - I will never give up my love a great steak!).

Caramelized Zucchini Pasta

New York Times

 

This recipe transforms two pounds of grated fresh zucchini into one cup of caramelized zucchini that’s rich, sweet and jammy enough to become a pasta sauce. Cooked over moderately high heat in a combination of olive oil and butter, the zucchini fries in its own juices and concentrates its flavor. Adding garlic and basil lends sweetness, but consider adding anchovy, preserved lemon or red-pepper flakes. As browned bits appear in the skillet, deglaze with a few tablespoons of water, chicken stock or vegetable stock to help prevent burning and to incorporate all of those tasty caramelized bits into the sauce. With time and patience, you’ll have a not-so-pretty but delicious mixture, like caramelized onions made with zucchini. Eat it tossed with pasta, as is done here, or add it to sandwiches, pizzas or antipasti spreads.

 

INGREDIENTS

 

2      tablespoons unsalted butter

2      tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2      pounds zucchini, coarsely grated (about 3 large zucchini)

8      garlic cloves, peeled and smashed

½     cup basil leaves, stems reserved, plus more for serving 

Kosher salt and black pepper

1      pound ridged or curly pasta (like medium shells or casarecce)

½     cup finely grated Parmesan or pecorino (about 1/2 ounce), plus more for serving

1      tablespoon lemon juice 

 

PREPARATION

 

1.            In a large (at least 12-inch) cast iron skillet over medium-high heat, melt the butter and oil. When it’s foaming, add the zucchini, garlic, the basil stems and half the basil leaves. Season with 1 1/4 teaspoons salt and a few grinds of pepper. Cover and cook until pooling with liquid, 5 to 7 minutes. Uncover and cook until the liquid evaporates and the zucchini starts to sizzle, 7 to 10 minutes. 

2.            Continue to cook until the zucchini is very soft, dark green, and reduced to about 1 cup, another 20 to 25 minutes. When you see a build up of browned bits on the skillet, add a couple tablespoons of water and stir, scraping up the browned bits. Repeat anytime more browning occurs. If you see burning, deglaze with water and lower the heat. (Caramelized zucchini can be made ahead and refrigerated for up to a week; it also freezes well.)

3.            Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. When the zucchini is about done, add the pasta to the boiling water and cook until al dente. Reserve 2 cups of pasta water, then drain the pasta. If the zucchini is ready before the pasta, keep cooking it; the zucchini will only get better the longer it cooks.

4.            When the pasta’s drained, remove the herb stems from the zucchini. Reduce the heat on the zucchini to medium, then add the pasta, 1 cup pasta water, and the Parmesan. Stir until the pasta is glossed with sauce. Add more pasta water as needed to thin the sauce. Stir in the lemon juice and remaining basil, then season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve with more basil, Parmesan and black pepper.

 

Fava Bean Pasta

From farm to table lived with this dish! Our neighbor Tom grows Fava Beans. We went over to his house and picked them ourselves while he was in Europe. I LOVE Fava Bean Pasta with the Bacon, Onion and Sage. It is delicious! We started with Asparagus topped with Brown Butter, Burrata, and Hazelnuts. A great way to serve this spring vegetable. You can find the recipe for Fava Bean Pasta on our blog of: April 30, 2008, Click the date to get the recipe. Then make it!

Fava Bean Pasta and Timmy Soup

Bea joined us for diner.

We had dinner at our friend Tim’s and he served us a wonderful soup that we decided to make. It was a very traditional Chinese Soup. Since he is from Shanghi, I assume it is of Shanghi derivation. There is no real recipe but it is made with cut up ginger, chicken, mushrooms, tofu and Virginia Ham (available at a Chinese Market near you). We really liked the soup and Tim gave us some extra Virginia Ham that he had. It was really delicious.

We it we made our first Fava Bean Pasta of the year. Fava’s come into the market in the spring. They require double peeling, first the pod to release the bean, then a quick boil of the bean to allow you to pinch off the skin of the bean leaving just the fava without a skin. From a huge volume of Fava Beans you get a cup or cup and half of shelled beans. It is best NOT to cut your finger nails before you start shelling the beans. The pasta is one of my favorites. Fava’s, and Bacon (my favorite seasoning) and onions. You can find the recipe in our blog of: April 30, 2008. Just click the date to get the recipe.

Fava Bean Pasta

We love Fava Bean Pasta, and this was our first of the year. This version was exceptional. Cathy thinks it is because of the Eggs we purchased at McCall's. We will buy our Eggs there from now on.

Fava’s come into the market in the spring. Tom grows them in his garden and gave us some. They require double peeling: first you remove them from the pod, then give the beans a quick boil so you can pinch off the skin, leaving just the beautiful Fava Bean inside. From a huge volume of Fava Beans, you wind up with only a cup or cup and a half of shelled beans. It is best NOT to cut your fingernails before you start shelling the beans.

The pasta is one of my favorites. Fava’s, Bacon (my favorite seasoning), and Onions. What could be bad? You can find the recipe in our blog of April 30, 2008. Just click the date to get the recipe.
We started with an Asparagus Salad with Egg Salad. 

Fava Bean Pasta

In the spring we eagerly await the first Fava Beans. This year we grew our own. Every week we would look into our back yard and watch the fava plants grow. They get to be over 6 feet. The branches sagged from the weight of the fava beans. It was time to harvest. I went downstairs and out to the back yard to pick them. Oye! I was robbed! There was only one fava bean left on the plant. I suspect that our gardener decided we weren’t eating them and they shouldn’t go to waste. Does anyone know how to say “Did you take me fava beans?” in Spanish?

One of our favourite dishes to make is Fava Bean Pasta. Luckily for us the Hollywood Farmer’s Market had plenty of fava beans. They are kind of mind numbing to peel, then boil then peel again, but the results are worth it. The dish is highly flavored with my favorite seasoning: bacon. You can find the recipe on our blog of: April 30, 2008. Click the date to get the recipe.

We started with Smoked Salmon Tartar. You can get the recipe from our blog of: January 1, 2011. Click the date to get the recipe. This is a great easy to make appetizer. We highly recommend it!

We then had a Salad of Tangerines, Dates and Parmesan Cheese. It was delicious and the tangerines fresh in the market now are especially juicy and sweet this year.

Fava Bean Pasta

Two of our very favorite Spring Time vegetables are Fava Beans and Asparagus. We planned a dinner with both. We are having some construction at our house, putting in French Doors off of our dining room to the front lawn.

We had the expectation that we would be unable to use the dining room during construction due to the dust dirt and chaos that would ensue. It magically didn’t happen that way. Pat is amazingly thoughtful and thorough and built a chamber isolating the construction area. It is completely sealed from the interior of the house. The room is shielded in Plastic and reminds us of a “kill” room used in the TV show Dexter.

Pat lives in Encinitas and is staying up here while construction is happening. Doshi, his girl friend, and our long time friend joined us all for dinner.

We started with Asparagus covered with Brown Butter a Fried Egg and Grated Parmesan cheese. It is a very rich and easy preparation and we love it!

We then had one of our ALL time favorites. Bacon and Fava Bean Pasta. We make this every spring when Favas are at their early spring best. Fava Beans of course need to be double peeled. First you remove them from their long green shell (this always takes about an hour of mindless work). Then you par boil them and remove their skin from each bean. What started as a cubic foot of Fava’s gets reduced to a final size of a little more than a cup.

The recipe for the pasta can be found on our blog of: April 30, 2008. Click the date to get the recipe.

The dinner was great, and it was fun being with Pat and Doshi. We had long wanted to put doors leading out from our dining room, but until we met Pat we didn’t trust or want anyone working inside of our house on a project of this magnitude. It was worth the wait!

Fava Bean Pasta

We made one of our favorite pastas: Fava Bean Pasta. We really like the taste of fresh spring favas, bacon (my favorite seasoning), the sage and onion. We have published pictures and the recipe for the pasta many times. You can find it at our blog of: April 30, 2008. Click the date to get the recipe. Tom, our neighbor grew Fava Beans this year and supplied us with some for this dinner. We augmented it with additional Fava Beans from Cookbook. If you never had made this recipe you must! We planted Fava Beans this year, but had a poor crop. Glad for Tom's contribution!

We started with a Caesar Salad.

Onion Soup and Fava Pasta

Wine: Domaine Des Relagnes 2003 Cote-du-Rhone Vieilles Vignes

Onion Soup and Fava Bean Pasta


It had been very cold in Los Angeles so we decided to make two of our favorite winter / spring dishes.

We started with Onion Soup Gratin. We use Julia Childs recipe from her first cookbook: Mastering the Art of French Cooking. It is very rich with lots of Gruyere Cheese and a splash of Cognac.

It warmed us up!

Once in San Francisco we ate at The Slow Club. They served fava bean pasta. We loved it and asked for their recipe. They gave it to us and we have continued to make it every spring when the fresh fava’s first appear. There is a lot of peeling and double peeling of the fava’s but it is well worth the effort.

Great leftovers!

Spring is Green

Wine: Celius Toscana 1999 Indicazione Geografica Tipica from Silver Lake Wine

When Spring arrives we always make two of our favorite dishes. We started by making Fava Bean Puree. At the Hollywood Farmer’s Market, fresh young fava bean appeared and we purchased several pounds. Fava’s require lots of peeling, first the bean from the large shell, then par-boiling the beans, and finally peeling the bean itself. There is a slippery skin that easily slips off after the boiling. Then you can start to make the puree. We simmer the beans in Olive Oil, garlic and Thyme then remove the thyme and puree. We served the puree with pita bread that had been toasted in the oven. It brought back all of the tastes of spring. We will be making this some more this spring and summer! Fava’s have a fairly long season. This recipe was modified by Cathy from the Chez Panisse Vegetables cookbook.

For the second course we made a new dish for us. It was from an old cookbook that we had, The Fine Art of Italian Cooking by Giuliano Bugialli. The recipe is called Asparagus Florentine Style. The asparagus is sautéed in butter, parmesan cheese is added then for the complete cholesterol hit, a fried egg is served on top! Pass the Lipitor with it! It is wonderful! Double click the scanned image from the book and you should be able to read and make it.

For the pasta course we make Asparagus Pasta. This is one of my very favorite dishes. The dish is simplicity itself, with great flavors. Browned butter, Asparagus, Parmesan Cheese and great Pasta are the keys. Cathy adapted it from a recipe in Chez Panisse Pasta Pizza & Calzone by Alice Walters. We got all of the cheese, of course from the Cheese Store of Silverlake. We also got the curly pasta from the Cheese Store.

Fava Bean Pasta

 

I could sing the praises of Fava Bean Pasta. We can't wait for Fava's to come into season in the Spring. They are kind of fun to sit there and shell bean from the pod, then immerse them in boiling water and shell the actual beans a second time it is worth it to us. We shell by heart fingers flying as we discuss the upcoming treat. I can't count how many times we have made this pasta. The answer is many! Obviously we love it! You can find the recipe on our blog of April 30, 2018.  Clic the date to get the recipe. I as I write this in August can only patiently wait another 6 or 7 months to make it again!