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What’s Cooking Wednesday: Calabrian Sausage & Fava Beans
You had to know it was only a matter of time before fava beans made an appearance on What’s Cooking Wednesday.
Fava beans (also known as broad beans and “fava” in Italian, “fave” is plural) are peasant food at its finest, and if there’s one thing we do well in Calabria, it’s peasant.
I wrote about favas before they start coming into season right around St. Joseph’s Day in March; now we’re at the end of the fava run. Mostly we just eat them raw as a snack (more info on how you get to that point below), but when P’s mom brought a big ole bag of them over, we had an urge to cook them.
And yes, that could also be because “Fabio” comes from faba…Latin for fava! It’s in our DNA around here.
Normally P’s mom would use “carne salata” (a very salty cured meat) with this dish, but we didn’t have any so we used spicy Calabrian sausage. Pancetta or bacon could also easily be substituted.
While researching for the post, I came across this recipe from medieval times–not only is the recipe quite similar to what P’s mom would make, there are words in there more reminiscent of Sicilian/Calabrian than standard Italian. Interesting, huh?
Before we get to the recipe, let’s get something clear before you start–you have to *really* want to eat favas to go through the work involved. Susan of Food Blogga, gives a great demonstration of shelling them here, and now a quick lesson from me.
They start looking like this:
Snap off the top of the pod and pull down so the pod splits at the seam (or otherwise twist and turn the thing until you expose the beans):
Remove the beans and throw away the pods so that you’re looking at a bunch of beans like this:
You’re not done yet! Now you have to take off the outer casing as well, otherwise you could be in for some nasty digestion issues later.
Susan recommends boiling the beans and then plunging them in ice water, but I just peeled off the little “handle” on top and then squeezed out the beans.
Now your favas are shelled and ready to eat raw or cook.
I told you. You have to want these.
If you’re in the right frame of mind, shelling favas can be an extremely relaxing experience as it was for me. Yes, my thumbs hurt a little bit afterwards, but you know what they say:
No pain, no favas.
They are worth it, I promise, especially since this recipe has only four ingredients. Easy peasy! Or, easy fava-y? And as I told P, it’s fava-loso.
OK I’ll stop now.
Calabrian sausage & fava beans
(Salsiccia calabrese con le fave)
4 tablespoons olive oil
2 links of spicy sausage, cut into chunks
4 garlic sprouts, chopped
Pile of favas
Salt to taste
1. Heat oil in medium pan and add sausage. Let cook for about 10 minutes until the sausage releases some of its fat and flavor into the oil.
2. Add garlic sprouts and beans and cook until beans are tender but not overcooked, about 15-20 minutes, testing often.
3. Adjust for salt.
4. Serve with fresh, crusty bread, and this is a delicious, hearty meal on its own.
Notes:
1. The green attached to the end of this fresh garlic is what I mean by garlic sprouts. The first time P’s mom called these “code” (COH-deh) or garlic tails, I just had to smile. Isn’t that a great name? Don’t you love Italian?
2. I think this recipe would be great with tomatoes thrown in too, but P wasn’t feeling adventurous, so we did it without. Maybe next fava season.
Buon appetito!
Have you tried fava beans?
What’s your favorite way to enjoy them?
Ricotta Pound Cake from Gina DePalma’s Dolce Italiano
**NOTE THIS CONTEST HAS ENDED.**
Welcome to Day 3 of the Dolce Italiano Contest in which you can win a free, personalized, signed copy of Dolce Italiano, the newly-released, highly-acclaimed Italian dessert cookbook by Gina DePalma, Executive Pastry Chef of Mario Batali’s Babbo Ristorante Enoteca in New York City.
You can read more about the contest in this post of mine and also over at Shelley’s At Home in Rome, home of the event, but here’s the gist: Shelley, Sara, Ilva, Jenn, and I are going to be posting recipes from the book over the next two weeks.
In order to be entered into the drawing for the free, personalized, signed copy of Dolce Italiano, you need to comment on the recipe posts; you can comment on all 10 over the next two weeks to maximize your chances of winning.
All comments must be posted by 11:59 p.m. PST on Friday, December 7th, 2007 to be entered.
So, after you leave me a note here, if you haven’t commented on Sara’s Mosaic Biscotti from Monday or Ilva’s Chocolate Kisses from yesterday, do go over and comment.
When collaborating, we had to figure out which days we would all post our recipes. I, of course, requested Wednesdays to keep the What’s Cooking Wednesday theme alive and also to enrich the WCW collection with some delicious Dolce Italiano recipes.
Now to the recipe.
I’m a cake and cookie girl, so it’s not surprising that the first dessert I’ve chosen is in one of those food groups–namely the Ricotta Pound Cake.
I love any kind of cake and I also love ricotta, so I had a pretty good idea I’d enjoy this too.
“Enjoy” doesn’t do this justice.
I *love* this cake. LOVE THIS CAKE.
The ricotta gives an extra kick to the normally tame (I didn’t say boring–did you hear boring?) pound cake as well as an awful lot of moisture. I love how the outside is nice and crunchy but inside it’s actually almost wet. This is without a doubt one of the best cakes I’ve ever made or eaten.
And as Gina wrote in the book, it *is* even better the next day–that just didn’t seem possible after I took my first bite nearly fresh out of the oven. I really have to learn to trust the experts.
Ah, and another bonus? It goes great with espresso!
Ricotta Pound Cake
(condensed from Gina DePalma’s Dolce Italiano)
1 1/2 c cake flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp kosher salt
3/4 c unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 c fresh whole-milk ricotta
1 1/2 c granulated sugar
3 large eggs
1/2 vanilla bean
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
Confectioner’s sugar for dusting
1. Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C) and place rack in center.
2. Grease and flour 9-inch loaf pan.
3. In medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, and salt and set aside.
4. In a separate bowl, cream together butter, ricotta, and sugar until smooth and light.
5. Beat in eggs one at a time, scraping sides of bowl after each addition.
6. If you have a vanilla bean (I didn’t), split it lengthwise and scrape out the seeds with the blunt side of a small knife, then beat them into the batter along with the vanilla extract. I just used another teaspoon of vanilla extract.
7. On low speed, beat in dry ingredients to combine them, scrape down sides of the bowl, and beat the batter for 30 seconds on medium.
8. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth top with a spatula. Tap pan on counter a few times to remove air pockets.
9. Put cake in oven and let bake for 15 minutes, then turn 180 degrees to ensure even browning. Lower the temperature to 325°F (160°C) and let bake until cake springs back when lightly touched, the sides of the cake have pulled away from the sides of the pan, and a cake tester inserted in center comes out clean, about 25 minutes more.
For some reason, mine took another 35 minutes, so do keep a close eye on it. Perhaps it had to do with the water content of the ricotta I used versus what Gina uses? Experts?
10. Allow cake to cool in pan for 15 minutes, then invert it on wire rack to cool completely. Mine came right out of the pan like no other loaf I’ve made before–the browned outside is key here. Dust with confectioner’s sugar before serving.
As Gina says, flavor is best the next day, and I have to agree. Leftover cake can be stored for up to three days so long as it’s wrapped in plastic.
Buon appetito!
Today I’m thankful for:
Ricotta Pound Cake of course! YUM!
What’s Cooking Wednesday: Refreshing Summer Pasta Salad
And please, please, please resist the temptation to use Italian dressing; all you need is some good olive oil, oregano/basil, and salt, and you’re good to go. And I promise it’s even tastier.
Read on...
Michelle Kaminsky is an American attorney-turned-freelance writer who lived in her family's ancestral village in Calabria, Italy for 15 years. This blog is now archived.
Calabria Guidebook
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