Fava beans with bacon and tomatoes
Ragu di fave, pancetta e pomodori
This fava beans with bacon, garlic and tomatoes is a classic that can be found in numerous versions all along the Mediterranean coasts.
Dried fava beans can be tiresome in the long run, but when the fresh green fava beans are in season they can turn a simple tomato sauce into a treat. It tastes good in the comfortable, soothing kind of way. In addition, broad beans are traditionally believed to bring luck in the sense that those who have beans will never want for the essentials in life. It is definitely true that once you have eaten this dish, you don’t need more food for the next couple of hours.
Ingredients
500 g fresh shelled fava beans
1 red onion
4 cloves of garlic
150 pancetta or bacon
500 g peeled tomatoes
Salt, pepper, olive oil
Fresh rosemary
Preparation
Peel and crush the four cloves of garlic and fry them lightly in olive oil.
Peel and slice the onion and add it to the garlic along with a spring of rosemary.
Turn down the heat and saute the onions for 10 minutes until soft.
Dice the pancetta and fry in with the onions (mild bacon can be used instead).
Pour tomatoes into the saucepan, stir well and let the dish simmer for 5 minutes.
Add the fava beans and let them cook for another fine minutes until the beans are tender but still in shape.
Sprinkle the fava beans in tomato sauce with olive oil and chopped fresh rosemary before serving.
If you like this fava beans recipe you might also like
Pea salad recipe with fava beans
You will not want for anything a coulpe of hours after having eaten fava beans with bacon and tomatoes
Yummy! Thank you the recipe, Mette :)
Thank you:)
Timely post Mette. I was looking at fava beans the other day while grocery shopping and wishing I knew what to do with them. Now I know. Gotta run back to the store and grab some, see you later! :-)
Hope you got there before they sold out:)
Fantastic recipe. Made this with dried beans and it was still delicious. Had it for lunch with sourdough bread. Great flavours.
Thanks for the feedback. It does taste a lot better than most people think beforehand.
FYI:
To prepare fava beans you remove the beans from the pods. Then you blanch the beans and remove the skin. Then you can use the beans.
Or
You can grill the beans in their pods and then remove both the pod and the skins before eating them.
It depends on the freshness of the fava beans you use. The fava beans I buy or get come straight from the plant at the start of the season, and they don’t need to have their skins removed.