Fava Beans & Pasta

My meeting today took me near one of my favorite farms – Highland Orchards in Wilmington, DE. They grow naturally, and grow a lot of fruits and vegetables that I do not, so I am like a kid in a candy store when I go into their shop. Today I bought blackberries, black raspberries, red raspberries, snow peas (which I ate on the drive home), apples, spring onions and fava beans. I am realizing that I am buying a lot of spring onions, perhaps I will grow them for next year.

I will post the raspberry scone recipe another day, but tonight it was pasta and fava beans. I have never cooked fava beans before so it was part recipe reading and part experimenting with what I know we like. The result was a tasty, satisfying dish that I would definitely make whenever I have access to fresh fava beans.

Fava Beans and Pasta

1 pound fava beans in the pods (or more) (from Highland Orchards)

8 ounces of small pasta

1 generous Tbsp olive oil

1 clove garlic, sliced

2 large sprigs of parsley, finely chopped (from the garden)

2 spring onions, green part only, chopped (from Highland Orchards)

1 Tbsp lemon juice

1 Tbsp butter

salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

First, prep and cook the favas: shell them from the pods. Bring a large pot of salted water to boil and prepare a bowl of ice water. When the water boils, add the favas and blanch for 30 seconds. Remove with a slotted spoon and put in the ice water. Let it cool about 5 minutes. Drain the beans and remove their skins.

Bring the water back to a boil and add the pasta, cook according to directions.

In a skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat and cook the garlic, parsley and spring onions (reserve 2 Tbsp for garnish) til the scallions are soft, about 1 – 2 minutes. Add the fava beans and about 3/4 cup of the cooking water. Simmer until the favas are tender, about 8 – 10 minutes. Add the lemon juice.