Fava Beans, Potatoes, Onions, and Tomatoes

1 pound new potatoes, roasted
Olive oil
2 cloves crushed Garlic
2 Tomatoes cut into wedges
1 medium Visalia onion, sliced in wedges or cippolini
Pepper
Salt
4 fresh Thai chili peppers
2 sprigs fresh chopped rosemary
2 sprigs fresh chopped or torn basil

Fava beans

 

 Fava beans need to be shelled (removed
from their pods). To open the pods just pull on the stem at the top to unzip the
string down either side of the pod, then gently push the pod open between your
thumb and forefingers and force the beans out. Drop shelled beans in boiling
water for a minute. Plunge beans into ice water to stop the cooking. Nick each
bean end with your finger nail and squeeze tough outer shell and the inner edible
tender bean pops out. Discard outer shells.

Use the peeled fava beans as appetizers, in salads or in recipes such as this
one. Fava beans are less grainy than lima beans and better tasting than soy
beans. It Italy these are eaten salted as a snack (not unlike the Japanese
edamame (soy beans). 

Sauté onions until browned on edges with olive oil, rosemary, salt, pepper,
a few whole fresh hot chilies. Set aside. Roast lightly salted potatoes
in toaster oven with olive oil and some of the rosemary for an hour at
325 F or until al dente. Set aside. Cut tomatoes into equal sized wedges,
salt, pepper, cover with 2 cloves chopped garlic and some olive oil and set aside

 until ready to assemble.
In this example, this dish will be used to serve as bedding under roast chicken.
The chicken is just out of the oven and cooling before we can carve it. Now we
finish the vegetable dish.
 

Heat a large frying pan until very hot, add some of the juice from the roast
chicken (or olive oil) and add the tomatoes, onions, the near raw fava beans, and
the roasted potatoes, and the remainder of the rosemary, and add the basil. Toss
and turn on high until the tomatoes have “begun to melt” and everything is very
hot. Take your serving platter and wet the outside bottom of it with a little water.
Place the platter in the microwave of high for a minute or until the platter is very
hot. Turn out the vegetables to the heated platter. Strategically assemble cut
pieces of the roasted chicken on top and serve. Everyone helps themselves.
 

Notes:

1. Fava beans are especially popular in Rome and in Southern Italy and are an
important spring crop. Fava beans have a mouth feel similar to edamame (soy
beans) which are wonderfully crunchy making both of these great in salads. The
Persians serve fava beans with mint or dill while the Italians may grind these to a
course paste as a topping for toasted bread or eat raw with the early seasons
first batch of pecorino2 cheese. Fava bean stew is important in Portugal where it
is prepared with tomatoes, sausage, dried favas and plenty of garlic.

2. Pecorino is the name of a variety of hard Italian cheeses made from sheep's milk
since the Romans days. Pecorino is a delicate cheese that's mild when young.
Pecorino Romano, which is saltier and firmer and an excellent grating cheese not
unlike Parmigiano Reggiano. One might think it is made in Rome because of the
name but most of it comes from island of Sardinia.