Fava Beans Provencale Food

20 WAYS TO USE FAVA BEANS

Steps:

• Select your favorite recipe.
• Organize all the required ingredients.
• Prep a fava bean recipe in 30 minutes or less!

FAVA BEANS PROVENCALE

Steps:

• Shell beans; place in a large pot with enough water to cover by 2 inches. Add 1 bay leaf, garlic, salt, and pepper. Cook over low heat until tender, about 15 minutes. Drain, reserving liquid; discard garlic.
• In a medium saute pan over high heat, cook peppers in oil until golden brown. Lower heat; add onions, tomatoes, and remaining bay leaf, and cook until very soft, about 15 minutes.
• Remove bay leaf and pass mixture through a food mill, adding a few cooked beans and enough reserved bean liquid so that mixture resembles a very thick soup.
• Return to pot with rest of beans. Add more bean liquid if mixture seems too thick, and cook 15 minutes longer.

FAVA BEANS SUPREME

Steps:

• Shell the fava beans and boil in lightly salted water for about 6 minutes.
• Cool the beans in cold water and remove outer skin on each bean (If you are using canned beans omit these first steps and go right to the next one).
• Place fava beans in a well buttered heatproof dish (for vegan use a veggie oil spray to coat the dish).
• Saute onion, garlic & tomato in the oil (add hot peppers if using) until just soft.
• Pour over the beans & cover with foil.
• Bake in 350F degrees oven for 15 minutes.
• Remove foil, sprinkle with parmesan cheese.
• Bake under broiler for a few min until cheese is golden.
• Serve.
• You may wish to mix some bread crumbs with the parmesan or use buttered crumbs as a topping.
• Do whatever appeals to your taste buds!

FAVA BEAN PURéE

Steps:

• Bring a pot of water to a boil as you shell the beans from: 4 pounds fava beans.
• Blanch quickly in the boiling water and then cool in ice water. Drain and pop the beans out of their skins. Heat in a heavy-bottomed saucepan: 1/2 cup olive oil.
• Add the fava beans with: 4 garlic cloves, sliced, 1 branch rosemary, Salt, 1/2 cup water.
• Cook until the fava beans are very tender, stirring occasionally, and adding more water as necessary. The beans are done when they can be crushed easily with the back of a spoon, about 15 minutes. Mash with a spoon or pass them through a food mill. Stir in: 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil.
• Taste and season with salt as needed. Thin with water if necessary. Serve right away or at room temperature.

GABRIEL'S SAUTEED FAVA BEANS

Steps:

• First, shell the beans from the fava pods (I found it's sometimes easier - especially if you're new to fava beans - to open the pods when you run the edge of a knife along the seam, cutting away the tough edge so that the pod halves come apart).
• In a large saucepan, bring water to a boil, then add salt - the amount depends on how much water you have, but it should be very salty, like seawater.
• In a bowl, combine ice and tap water to make ice water; set aside.
• Add the shelled beans to the boiling water and let cook for about 3 minutes, then remove from saucepan and immediately plunge into the ice water to halt the cooking.
• Let the beans cool, then peel the outer skin from each of them.
• Over medium heat in a skillet, melt together the butter and olive oil, then add the garlic and sauté for 1 minute.
• Add the peeled fava beans and sauté for about 5 to 7 minutes, or until they are done to your preference.
• Season to taste with salt and freshly ground pepper, serve, and enjoy!
• Note: in choosing your fava beans, get the pods that are firm and fresh looking; also, if you're feeling silly, have these along with your favorite liver dish and a nice Chianti.
• Note 2: once you've made these basic fava beans, you can add other delicious items such as caramelized onions or fennel, chunky fresh tomatoes, and/or a bit of chopped proscuitto.
• Note 3: I asked Gabriel if favas could be frozen effectively, and he said that yes, you can shuck them and blanch them for 1 minute at most, then freeze them in a single layer on a sheet in the freezer before putting them into bags; great bright green color and no mushiness in texture; thaw, peel, and use as usual.