fave + potatoes

The best cookbooks not only teach you new recipes but also teach you a new way to cook. I was thinking about this the other day, when I was in Todi, and picking the last of our fave beans. Left over somehow from our harvest a couple of weeks ago, the pods had grown big, fat, and not so pretty. Once cracked open, the beans themselves were pale green, with thick skins and a super starchy texture. Not the bright green, spring fave that most recipes call for.

And that’s when I decided to look at the newest book from the American Academy’s Rome Sustainable Food Project. Chris Boswell’s Vedure would certainly have an inspirational recipe, I thought. The only problem was that I had left my copy back in Rome. Luckily I had read it cover to cover, and while I didn’t remember any specific recipe Chris’s advice about micro-seasonality had made an impression. I guess I had never really thought about this before. That vegetables are very different over the arc of their short seasons. Take fave: at the beginning they are tender and green, with barely any starch. A brief cooking, or no cooking at all, is what they are calling for. Instead, at the end of the season they sugars have had time to turn into full blown carbs, and they swollen beans need to be treated to a long slow heat to bring out their best.

Once I had remembered this advice the recipe came together pretty quickly. Rather than try to recreate some spring time, bright green dish, I just accepted these late season fave for what they were: almost miniature little starchy potatoes. So I combined them with potatoes and a bit of spring garlic for the perfect side dish for grilled lamb chops.

This fave recipe may not be as sexy as this one or this, but believe me, it was just as delicious.

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fave + potatoes

Prep 20 mins

Cook 40 mins

Total 60 mins

Author Elizabeth

Yield 4

Ingredients

• 2 kilos of late season fave beans, in the pod
• 1 kilo of new potatoes
• 2 spring garlics, chopped
• 3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
• salt, pepper

Instructions

1. Take the fave beans out of their pod. In Italy it’s not common to take them out of their skins, even when they are thick. So I didn’t. Which makes this recipe super easy.
2. Peel the potatoes and cut them into quarters length wise. Then slice each quarter into 1/2 inch slices.
3. Heat the olive oil in a pan large enough to hold everything. Add the rosemary and stir briefly, to let flavor the oil. Add the fave beans, season with salt and pepper, and stir. Cook for about 8 minutes.
4. Add the potatoes, stir, and season again.
5. Add about a half cup of water, stir and cover. Let cook for about 10 minutes, at medium heat, checking to make sure it’s not burning.
6. After about 10 minutes start checking for doneness. Add more water if necessary. When they are just about done, and the water has evaporated, add the spring garlic and stir. Let cook for another few minutes and check for seasoning.

Notes

This dish is great served with grilled meats.

This recipe was inspired by Vedure: Recipes from the Kitchen of the American Academy’s Rome Sustainable Food Project.
You can order the book here. And find out more about the American Academy in Rome by becoming a Friend of the Academy.