Pasta With Fava Beans And Lemon Sauce Recipes

Steps:

• Fill a large bowl with ice water. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the fava beans and cook 30 seconds. Remove with a slotted spoon and transfer to the ice water; let cool about 5 minutes (keep the pot of water boiling). Drain the beans, then peel off their skins (they should slip right off). Add the pasta to the boiling water and cook as the label directs. Reserve about 1 1/2 cups cooking water, then drain the pasta.
• Heat the olive oil, garlic, mint sprigs, parsley sprigs and all but 2 tablespoons of the scallions in a large skillet over medium heat. Cook, stirring, until the scallions are soft, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the favas and 1 cup of the reserved cooking water. Bring to a simmer and cook until the favas are tender and the liquid is slightly reduced, 8 to 10 minutes; discard the garlic and herb sprigs.
• Add the pasta to the skillet and cook, tossing until it absorbs some of the sauce, about 3 minutes. Stir in the butter, chopped mint and parsley, reserved scallions, and salt and pepper to taste. Add more cooking water to loosen, if needed. Serve warm or at room temperature.
• Tip: If you can't find fresh fava beans, use frozen shelled and skinned ones and blanch as directed.

Steps:

• Bring a medium saucepot of salted water to a boil. Fill a medium bowl with water and ice and set a fine mesh strainer in the bowl. (Be sure to keep ice out of strainer.) Blanch peas for 30 seconds and use a slotted spoon to transfer peas to strainer in ice bath. Let sit for 5 minutes and pull up strainer to drain peas. Repeat process with fava beans, cooking for 1 minute. (You can use same pot of boiling water that you used for peas.) When fava beans have been blanched and cooled, slip off peels.
• Bring a large pot of heavily salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook until 1 minute shy of al dente. Drain, reserving 1/2 cup cooking water.
• In a large skillet, melt 1 tablespoon butter. Add pepper and sauté for 1 minute, or until fragrant. Add 1/4 cup of the cooking water and the remaining butter to pan. Stir until butter is melted and sauce begins to thicken, about 30 seconds.
• Add cooked pasta, pecorino and Parmesan and toss until cheese melts, about 30 seconds. Add peas and fava beans. Toss very well to coat, adding more pasta water if pan seems dry. Season with salt to taste. To serve, sprinkle each portion with more pecorino and drizzle with olive oil. Garnish with chives.

Steps:

• Shell fava beans and cook in a medium pot of boiling salted water 2 minutes.
• Drain and immediately plunge into a large bowl of ice water.
• Peel off outer skins of beans---there is a dark green, thick ridge on the rounded side of the bean-starting there, pinch the skin and pull it open, once the skin opens a bit you can squeeze the bottom and the bean slips out into your bowl.
• Cook pasta in boiling salted water according to package directions until al dente (you definitely don't want to overcook the pasta for this dish).
• Reserve a half cup of the water the pasta has cooked in and drain pasta in colander, you don't have to worry about excess water in the "little ears" as it will help tie the pasta sauce together.
• Return pot to medium heat, add butter and garlic, cook until garlic is soft.
• Add half-and-half, heat one minute.
• Stir in lemon juice, zest and pepper.
• Add pasta and cheese, stirring until pasta is coated and cheese is melted.
• Add favas and toss, adding a few tablespoons of reserved pasta water if pasta seems dry (the starch from the cooking water will help make the sauce creamy, it shouldn't seem sticky).
• Serve immediately in warm bowls, garnishing with mint if desired.

Steps:

• Melt the butter in a 12-inch skillet (preferably straight-sided) over medium-high heat. Add the zucchini and 1 teaspoon salt, and stir, then cook undisturbed in an even layer until one side is golden, about 4 minutes. (It's great if the butter browns, but decrease the heat if it threatens to get too dark.) Stir in the asparagus, carrot and garlic, and cook, stirring occasionally, until fragrant and softened, about 4 minutes. Stir in the peas, scallions and ½ teaspoon salt, then add the red-pepper flakes, oregano and a generous amount of black pepper. Cook, stirring, until the peas are warmed through and bright green, about 2 minutes.
• Add the white beans and the cream, lower the heat to medium, and let the cream come to a simmer. Simmer for about 1 minute.
• Turn off the heat and stir in the lemon juice, Parmesan and Dijon. Taste and season with more salt, pepper or lemon juice as needed. Add 1 or 2 tablespoons of warm water to the creamy beans to loosen as you like; the sauce will thicken as it cools. (You may need more water when you reheat any leftovers.) Serve in bowls topped with the nuts and a handful of basil leaves. Pass more Parmesan at the table.