Fava and Pea Soup
This happy, green fava and pea soup imitates one of three surprise offerings ‘on the house’, we had at Antica Osteria da la Stella in Urbino.
In my opinion this fava and pea soup tastes exactly like spring: Fresh, green and optimistic. Just remember to serve it with bread, as you will want to ‘fare la scarpetta’ in the Italian fashion, which means licking the plate clean with a piece of bread.
Fava and pea soup is wonderful in doll-sized cups as an amuse-bouche. But you can also serve it as a main dish primo instead of spaghetti, rice or vegetable soup.
If you have got more horsebeans left over after making fava and pea soup, try preparing a salad of fava and ricotta, fava and bacon or a plate of pasta with fresh fava.
Ingredients
1 white onion
1 clove of garlic
3 bayleaves
Fresh rosemary, mint and thyme
500 g fresh fava beans
200 g fresh peas
½ lemon
Olive oil, salt, pepper
Ricotta
Preparation
Peel and chop onion ad garlic.
Fry the onions in olive oil until soft and glass-like.
Add fava beans and the peas to the onions along with the fresh rosemary, mint, thyme, bay leaves and lemon.
Cover with water and let the soup simmer for 20 minutes.
Remove the bay leaves ad lemon and blend the soup smooth.
Add salt and pepper to taste.
Serve fava and pea soup with a dash of olive oil, a spoonful of ricotta and some mint leaves.
Italian Notes
This looks lovely – definitely going to try it, but will wait until spring I think…and of course, you can’t have soup without mopping up afterwards with fresh, crusty bread. :)
Julia
Nope. Though some people find it rude and bad mannered.
Looks incredible Mette but I don’t think I have a source for Laurel leaves. Is there a substitute I could use?
Thihi, I’m sorry. In Danish we call both the tree and the leaves “laurel”, so I keep forgetting to translate it to bay leaves.
Looks delicious, thank you for the recipe, Mette :)
My pleasure.
I absolutely love a high quality pea soup and have yet to make one at home. Well, no more excuses now with this awesome recipe! This sounds and looks absolutely delicious, Mette! Argh, I haven’t eaten yet today and this would be perfect! I really like the ‘fare la scarpetta’ technique with a great bread. Yes, please and thank you as always :)
And don’t forget the scoop of ricotta to give it a little cream.