Have you ever lived with someone who gives you passive aggressive gifts of food? You know what i mean. Ingredients that look lovely and delicious. But ingredients that take a lot of work on your part to get them to the table.
This is one of Domenico’s specialties.
When sent off to the market with very specific list of fruits and vegetables he will always manage to come back home with at least one big bag of work for me. This time around it was fave beans.
While I love fave beans, and do buy them, I also plan ahead. I knew I was going to be having a very busy week and sitting down to shell them was not going to be high on my to do list. And even though Domenico always offers to do the shelling, since he’s not home from the office until at least eight o’clock in the evening, that doesn’t leave him much time for prep work during the week.
So those fave just sat there, in the fridge, the entire week, until I finally dumped them out onto the table in front of Domenico on Saturday. As he started dutifully shelling them he told me cheerfully how cheap they had been, and that was why he had bought so many. Well, no wonder. Looking more closely I saw that these were not the bright green, first-of-the-season, tiny green fave beans that I love. Instead they were fat, swollen and kind of hard with a tough skin. I would probably never have even considered buying them.
While I had planned on making these springy bruschette, I switched gears into a more beany mode of thinking. I knew, once cooked, the fave were going to be very starchy and the tough skins (which I absolutely refuse to deal with) would lend a very earthy taste. They were just calling out for a big piece of porky, fatty guanciale.
Luckily Domenico had also brought me an entire cured pork cheek the week before. (he does stuff like that)
The trick is to cook the guanciale first, slowly, so that it gives up all of its fat. Once that is done, you add the chopped onions and then finally the beans and water. After about 45 minutes not only have the beans become tender, they have absorbed an awful lot of that fatty cooking broth.
I used quite a bit of pork in this dish, so much so that it actually ended up being our main course. A bit less pork and it could easily be a side dish. But who ever likes to hear the phrase ‘a bit less pork?”
fave + guanciale
Prep
Cook
Total
Yield 2
This recipe works well for end of the season, starchy fave beans. Otherwise it is a great recipe for any dried beans, especially large ones. Just make sure you soak them over night and then proceed as below.
Ingredients
- 1 pound/ 1/2 kilo of shelled fresh fave beans
- 100 grams/ 3 oz (about 1 cup chopped) guanciale
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 small onions, chopped (about 1 cup)
- salt, pepper
Instructions
- Cut the guanciale into 1/4 inch matchstick size pieces.
- Pour the olive oil into a pan and heat to medium-low heat. Add the guanciale and cook slowly until the fat has melted out and it is just beginning to turn brown.
- Add the chopped onions, and season with salt and pepper. Cook until softened, about 8 minutes.
- Add the shelled fave beans and enough water to cover by about an inch. Cover and cook until tender, about 45 minutes or so. At the end, uncover and cook off the rest of the liquid.
Fave e guanciale sounds so much better than pork and beans…but however you say it, this sounds so yummy. Thanks. Also I have your new book Eating Rome and and just getting started on it. Thanks for that too.
Fava beans are plentiful here in Pontelandolfo too. Today I did a riff on your recipe. I used locally produced sausage cut into small pieces sautéed with the onion, fava beans, a touch of black pepper and sage. Tossed in a bit of water and let it slowly cook. Yummy
Sounds pretty perfect to me.
Still awaiting the arrival of our local fave. And me being me, I actually grab the beans, head outside, sit at the table and shell the beans…we don’t seem to get the tiny, new beans that don’t require that peeling each one. I just blanch them very quickly, then peel…not so bad…but those that eat ’em have to help prep. them too, that’s the rule here!
I was in Rome earlier this month and ate guanciale, with pasta and grated pecorino, for the first time ever (at Bacco in Trastevere). I could not believe how great it tasted! If only I could buy cured pork cheek here in Ontario, but my local butcher (even though he has an Italian name) just looked blank when I asked for it.
If you can’t find guanciale, then pancetta is the next best thing.
Thanks, Elizabeth. I will go forth in search of genuine pancetta.
Mmm.. I can smell it from here (that is Milan). I will definitely try this recipe! Loved it to bits!
Hi Elizabeth, I do not find cured/aged meats like that in los angeles. i have seen them while traveling, but they never looked very appetizing. are you shaving off the outer skin? if so, that seems to be wasting a lot of your purchase. is the outer part edible?
Thanks,
kevin
Yes, I do shave off the outer part, which is partly pepper coated fat and partly thick skin. When I’ve seen it in the States, though, the outter part is already trimmed away.