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Warm Fava Bean Salad with Mint and Pancetta

(recipe, Jessica MacMurray Blaine)


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Introduction

This salad is a flavorful accompaniment to lamb or basically anything off the grill — and if you’ve got vegetarians in your crew, it’s lovely without the pancetta, too.

Ingredients

  1. 3 Tbsp. olive oil
  2. 3 oz. pancetta, chopped into bits
  3. 3 cups fava beans, shelled, blanched, and peeled (see Note)
  4. A generous handful of mint, minced
  5. Salt to taste

Steps

  1. In a large sauté pan or cast-iron skillet, heat the olive oil. Add the pancetta and cook until crisp, stirring often. Before the oil starts to smoke, add the blanched fava beans and cook briefly, to heat them through, stirring frequently so they don’t brown. Turn off the heat and stir in the mint and salt to taste. Serve immediately.

Note

To prepare the fava beans: Put a large pot of water on the stove and bring to a boil. Meanwhile, remove the fava beans from their pods; discard the pods. Drop the favas into the boiling water and cook for 1 minute. Drain, running under cool water. With the tip of a paring knife or your fingernail, puncture the outer skin of each fava bean, then pop out the inner bean by squeezing on the end. Read more about favas in Jessica MacMurray Blaine's "Favas."