Fave alla Romana – Whole Fresh Fava Bean Saute’ Roman Style!
When fava beans are freshly picked, you can eat the whole bean (no peeling the skin around the bean) – if you picked them within a few days you can even pop freshly shelled favas in your mouth! As they age, the membrane becomes tough and bitter – and then…
…the skin should be removed before eating.Romans, love, love pork – there is a specialty here called “Porchetta” which is a giant rolle’ made from an entire de-boned pig which has been stuffed with herbs and aromatics and cooked slowly on a spit. So it’s no surprise that the second most popular ingredient in their cuisine (after artichokes, of course) is pork belly. Fresh (pancetta), cured (pancetta dolce), spicy (pancetta piccante) and smoked (pancetta affumicata) – which can easily be substituted with bacon.
| Pressure Cooker | Accessories | Pr. Cook Time | Pr. Level | Open |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 L or larger | none | 5-7 min. | High(2) | Normal |
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 4 oz (100g) smoked pancetta (or bacon), diced
- ½ cup white wine
- 3 lbs (1½ kilos) Fresh Fava in their pods, shelled
- ¾ cup water
- 2 or 3 springs parsley, finely chopped
- freshly ground pepper, to taste
- In the pre-heated pressure cooker add the oil, and pancetta. When the pancetta begins to crisp and brown, de-glaze with the wine.
- Scrape all the brown bits off the bottom of the pan with a spatula to incorporate them in the sauce. Reduce the wine until almost gone, then add the fava and water.
- Close and lock the lid of the pressure cooker. Turn the heat up to high and when the cooker reaches pressure, lower to the heat to the minimum required by your cooker to maintain pressure. Cook for 5-7 minutes at high pressure.
- When time is up, open the cooker by releasing pressure.
- Dust with pepper and parsley before serving warm or room-temperature.
Can you make this with dried favas? I have dried favas and don’t have a clue what to do with them.
No, you can’t really sautee’ dried or dried and soaked favas – they need to be boiled in the pressure cooker.
I have an Egyptian dip coming up with dried split fava beans this summer – it will include instructions on how to “split” them, too even if you have whole dried favas.
Ciao,
L
Many people (myself including) associate the pressure cooker with stews and other cold weather fare, but this shows you that you needn’t put away the pressure cooker just because the weather is getting nice!