La Fritteda and the Fava Bean: Food Worth Fighting For

This is not the most beautiful looking pot of food. All the work that went into this dish, and I still ended up with the ugly step sister, but delicious enough for the princess. My baby artichokes could look better. My onions could be more uniformly sliced. But, I’m not sure I would have enjoyed it any more.

This is not a five minute dish. There is prep work involved. Fava beans are not for light weights. You have to be the kind of person that enjoys the PROCESS of cooking just as much as the EATING. I am just such that person some of the time. I cook most of the food I eat, and in a recent asparagus post I told you about my idea of five-minute meals (roasted asparagus). But, there are those days that the time in the kitchen is not something to get through like piano practice; it’s something to enjoy from beginning to end.

The fun starts when you discover it’s fava bean season and you scoop up as many as you can afford because it’s a quick season and the earlier, the better tasting. Then you grab at the baby artichokes spring peas, and vidalia onions feeling almost as giddy as a teenage girl with spring fever. I couldn’t actually find vidalia onions, but sweet onions are a good option. Nor could I get fresh peas, as our farmer’s market was flooded out last week, so I used frozen.

The surprise FRESH ingredient came in the way of fresh pasta purchased at my local farmer’s market a few weeks ago, Alfresco Pasta, a nashville based company.

I made this dish twice in one week because we loved the unique combination of spring vegetables. The result of fava beans, peas and artichokes delivers the heartiness of a fall dish with the flavors of springtime. Even if you just eat the La Fritteda without pasta, you will walk away from the table feeling satisfied.

The first time, I used Alfresco’s new spelt gemelii pasta, which suited the dish well, both in texture and in shape. The second time, I used their fresh spinach papparadelle and chose to caramelize the vegetables. If you try the caramelized version, skip any added grated cheese at the end and just enjoy the savory flavor the onion and fennel deliver.

Recipe (adapted from Marcella Hazan’s Essential’s of Classical Italian Cooking)
This is a loose recipe, not paying great attention to exact quantities and using my own methods for preparing vegetables. I’ve tried to keep it as simple as possible. If you can’t find fava beans, try fresh baby lima beans instead.

1 large sweet onion, thinly sliced
Extra virgin olive oil
1 large fennel bulb with fronds
6 baby artichokes
2 pounds of fresh fava beans
2 cups frozen peas Sea salt, freshly ground black pepper
Splash of champagne or white wine vinegar.

Onion: Use the sweetest onion you can find, and use a mandoline or very sharp knife to slice very thin.

Fennel Bulb and Fronds: Dice fronds, set aside. Slice Fennel thinly (like the onion).

Fava Beans: Hull and blanch in boiling water for 30 seconds. Cool enough to handle and slip out of skins. If you can’t get fava beans, fresh spring lima beans (or frozen) are another option. Another way to cook fava beans as recently featured on Sippity Sup: Pour boiling water over beans and when water is cool, slip out of skins.

Artichokes: Fill bowl with lemon ice water. Peel off rough leaves, slice into quarters. Trim top 1/4 inch off. As you peel artichokes, place in water. Once all are peeled and trimmed. If you can’t get baby artichokes, frozen hearts would work.

In heavy pot, saute onions onions and fennel in olive oil until softened. Add chopped fennel frond. Season with salt. Add in artichokes, cover and cook on medium heat for five minutes, stirring occasionally. You may need to cook longer. Add in fava beans, peas, vinegar. Cook a few minutes longer to heat through. Season with salt and pepper. Eat as a side dish or toss with pasta.

Notes: If using pasta, toss with zest of a whole lemon.

Cooking Italy
This recipe is also part of the cooking curriculum for Cooking Italy, a cook along group that cooks mostly from Marcella Hazan’s Essentials of Classical Cooking. It’s a group of friends and food bloggers who want to learn how to cook classic regional Italian cooking. If you are interested in joining, this group, go to Cooking Italy, and email me.

Spinach Tiger Entry 196- Angela Roberts – La Fritteda and the Fava Bean: Food Worth Fighting For