Pizzichi con le Fave alla Nicolina – Nicolina’s Farro Pasta with Fava Beans and Garlic Chile Oil Recipe
NICOLINA’S FARRO PASTA WITH FAVA BEANS AND GARLIC CHILE OIL
Nicolina Peduzzi is the matriarch of the family that owns Rustichella pasta, a premium brand from the Abruzzo. A petite and stylish woman who cooks lunch and dinner for eight to ten people every day—her married children and their children come home for lunch—she is a naturally confident cook.
In contrast to Americans who think they have to have all the latest cooking gear, Nicolina works in a modest kitchen and doesn’t appear to own a cutting board or a chef’s knife. She does all her slicing and chopping with a dull table knife, directly over the pot. With this fava bean sauce, she pairs a farro pasta (farro is a wheat relative) called pizzichi – a short, broad shape roughly 1½ inches long. Whole-wheat linguine are more widely available and an appropriate substitute.
Fava bean pods look something like overgrown Kentucky Wonder beans. They are long, flat, and thick-skinned, with the beans nestled inside in a velvety bed.
After removing the beans from the pod, an easy task, you still need to peel the more stubborn skins from the beans for most recipes, including this one. These thin skins are slightly bitter.
Nicolina does not approve of my method of blanching the fava beans first to make them easier to peel. She shells and peels them without blanching, claiming that blanching removes flavor and nutrients. That’s a price I’m willing to pay for convenience.
Serves 4 to 6
4 pounds fresh fava beans
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
½ yellow onion, minced
2 bay leaves
2 cloves garlic, smashed
Pinch of hot pepper flakes
Salt
1 pound farro pizzichi (farro spaghetti, whole-wheat linguine, or 1 pound Fresh Egg Pasta, cut as maltagliati )
For the Garlic Chile Oil:
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
3 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
3 tablespoons coarsely chopped dried sweet chiles, such as New Mexico chiles
Preparation instructions:
Have ready a bowl of ice water. Shell the fava beans. Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat. Add the shelled beans and blanch for 30 seconds to 1 minute, depending on their size, then drain and transfer them to the ice water. When cool, drain again. Peel the beans; the skins should slip off easily. You should have 1½ to 2 cups.
Heat the olive oil in a skillet over moderately low heat. Add the onion, bay leaves, smashed garlic, and hot pepper flakes and cook until the onion is soft, about 10 minutes. Add the fava beans, a generous pinch of salt, and 1 cup water. Bring to a simmer, cover partially, and adjust the heat to maintain a gentle simmer. Cook until the fava beans are tender, about 20 minutes. Add more water as needed to keep the beans moist and brothy. When the beans are tender, remove the bay leaves and garlic. Taste and adjust the seasoning. The beans must be well salted or the pasta will taste flat.
For the Garlic Chile Oil:
While the beans are cooking, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta to the boiling water.
While the pasta is cooking, make the Garlic Chile Oil: Combine the olive oil, chopped garlic, and chiles in a small skillet over moderate heat and cook until the garlic is golden and both the garlic and chiles become crisp. Do not let them burn. Set aside.
When the pasta is about 1 minute shy of al dente, set aside 1 cup of the pasta water, then drain. Return the pasta to the warm pot over moderately low heat and add the fava beans. Cook for about 1 minute to allow the pasta to absorb some of the flavor of the sauce. Moisten with some of the reserved pasta water as needed.
Divide the pasta among warm bowls. Top each portion with some of the Garlic Chile Oil. Serve immediately.
Recipe from the “Four Seasons Pasta: A Year of Inspired Recipes in the Italian Tradition” cookbook.