Also known as “broadbeans,” Fava beans are the original European bean (the beans we are most familiar with are native to North America). They’re uncommon in the American diet today, which is unfortunate since they’re delicious!
But, I’ll be honest: preparing fava beans is a lot of work, and that may be why they’ve fallen out of favor.
But the work is worth it, and they only come around briefly in the early summer, so embrace the work and enjoy:
Begin by shucking the beans out of the large outer pod. Each of the beans has a tight white bitter skin surrounding a tender, sweeter green interior bean. We highly recommend removing this white skin, which is the part that takes extra work. Some people peel it off the beans raw with a fingernail or paring knife (this is totally doable but requires some patience). We prefer to quickly blanche and then cool the beans. At that point, they ‘pop’ out of the skin easily.
Once you have the green inner bean only, you can prepare in any number of ways. Some people prefer their fava beans ‘al dente,’ in which case blanching might be enough cooking for you. Taste them before cooking further to see how you like them. You can salt them and add them to salads, or toss with pasta.
We prefer to cook our beans further by sautéing them in butter with onions. Once they are soft, they’re delicious served on pasta or mashed with a little salt and pepper and spread on toast.
Whatever way you prepare and eat them, fava beans have a distinctive and delightful savory flavor unlike any other bean.
