Best Fava Bean And Shiitake Ragout With Penne Recipes

FAVA-BEAN PUDDING WITH SHIITAKES, BACON AND WILTED ARUGULA

Steps:

• To make the pudding, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the beans and blanch until soft, about 8 to 10 minutes. Drain and rinse under cold running water. Slip their skins off. Set aside 1/2 cup of beans and put the rest into a blender. Add the eggs, yogurt cheese, scallions, salt and pepper and blend until smooth.
• Spray 4 6-ounce ramekins with the olive oil and divide the bean mixture among them. Place them in a steamer basket over barely simmering water. Cover and steam until puddings are set, about 25 minutes.
• To make the garnish, cook the bacon in a medium-size nonstick skillet until browned. Remove with a slotted spoon and reserve. Pour off the fat. Add the shiitakes to the skillet and cook over medium heat until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the arugula and cook until almost wilted. Remove from the heat and stir in the bacon, salt and pepper.
• To serve, run the tip of a small knife around the inside edge of the ramekins to loosen the puddings. Invert each onto the center of a plate and surround with the shiitake mixture. Sprinkle with the reserved fava beans and serve immediately.

FRESH FAVA BEANS AND WILD MOREL RAGOUT WITH LAKE SUPERIOR WHITEFISH

Steps:

• Shell the fava beans from the large long pods in which they are encased. This will reveal the beans in their thin skin from which they must also be removed. Do this by bringing a pot of water to a boil, add the beans to the pot and blanchcook for 2 to 3 minutes before straining the favas and shocking in an ice bath of cold water. The thin skin can now be peeled entirely off by hand to reveal the sweet fava bean. It is now ready to be added to any dish and only requires a few moments of additional cooking time.
• Clean the morels carefully and trim off the bottom of the stem. Remove all dirt and debris by soaking them in several changes of clean cold water. Next, lay the morels out on paper towels to absorb the excess moisture and air dry. Keep refrigerated until ready to use.
• In a saute pan, heat 3 tablespoons of the olive oil over medium heat. Add the morels and saute 3 to 4 minutes. Add the shallots and cook for 3 additional minutes. Add the fish stock and braise the morels for 2 to 3 minutes.
• Add the fava beans and white wine to the morels and continue to cook another 3 minutes. Season the vegetables with salt and pepper and add the fresh thyme leaves. Swirl in the cold butter to allow the butter, which adds a creamy texture to the dish, to melt but not separate. Remove promptly from the heat and place the morels and fava beans on a warm serving platter. While the morels and fava beans are cooking begin to cook the whitefish by seasoning the fish with salt and pepper. Heat the remaining olive oil in a second saute pan. Add the fish fillets to the hot oil, skin side down and cook the fillets 2 1/2 to 3 minutes on each side, before removing and placing on the serving platter with the morels and favas.

FAVA BEAN AND SHIITAKE RAGOUT WITH PENNE

Steps:

• Set a stock pot of water on stove for pasta. While the water heats: Heat butter and oil in skillet. Saute leek, shallot, and sliced shiitake caps until mushrooms have reabsorbed their liquid. Add salt & pepper to taste. Remove from heat, set aside. Simmer broth in shallow sauce pan. Blanch fava beans in the broth for a minute, remove and cool. Blanch asparagus for 1-2 minutes, remove and cool. Add shiitake stalks to remaining broth, simmer on the back burner to reduce while making pasta. When pasta water is boiling, cook pasta al dente. Drain in colander, return to pot. Ladel some hot broth into the penne and stir (discard shiitake stems). Stir in 1/2 the parsley/herbs. Reheat the shiitake mixture in the same skillet, add fava beans and asparagus, saute 2 minutes. Add vegetable mixture to pasta and stir. Spoon into pasta bowls. Ladel some broth on top. Finish with shavings of cheese, and fresh ground pepper to taste.

WHITE BEAN RAGOûT WITH LEMON OIL AND SHIITAKE MUSHROOMS

Steps:

• Place beans in large pot. Add enough cold water to cover beans by 3 inches; let stand overnight. Drain.
• Return beans to same pot. Add 8 cups water; onion and bay leaves. Bring to boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer until beans are tender, stirring occasionally, about 1 hour. Reserve 1 cup cooking liquid. Drain beans; transfer to baking pan. Discard onion and bay leaves.
• Meanwhile, combine oil and lemon slices in heavy medium saucepan. Simmer over low heat until lemon slices are translucent, about 5 minutes. Let cool uncovered 30 minutes. Strain lemon oil into bowl. Transfer 4 lemon slices to plate; cut in half and reserve (discard remaining lemon slices). (Beans, cooking liquid, lemon oil and lemons can be prepared 1 day ahead. Chill separately.)
• Heat 4 tablespoons lemon oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms and sauté until brown and tender, about 5 minutes. Add beans, 1 cup reserved cooking liquid, remaining lemon oil, herbs and lemon juice to mushrooms. Simmer over medium heat 5 minutes to blend flavors. Cool completely.
• Stir chopped tomatoes and grated Parmesan cheese into bean mixture season to taste with salt and pepper. Spoon bean mixture onto platter. Garnish with halved lemon slices.