Spring in a Bowl

Ciao Italia!
We made it. We are back in our Montone home where the air is clean, I hear birds instead of cars, and we’ve been to the farmer’s market. It’s still a little early in the season so there wasn’t an abundance of produce but it is fava bean, pea and artichoke season so I can’t really complain.

Here’s a very quick pasta sauce that takes advantage of the peas and fava beans.

¼ cup of fresh peas
¼ cup of fresh fava beans
½ thinly sliced medium onion
2T butter
2T olive oil

Soft egg pasta or bowties or a mild cheese filled ravioli.

Shuck the peas and set aside. Shuck the fava beans, which is not as easy as shucking peas. Steam the fava bean pods for a few minutes, then release the beans from the pod, then peel back the thick outer layer on the bean until you have the small, bright green inner bean.

Put your pasta water on to boil. Combine all the peas, fave and sliced onion in a small saucepan, add the butter and olive oil and set on a low heat. You want to barely poach the vegetables.

Cook your pasta. Toss with the sauce and you have a fresh taste of spring in your bowl.