We’re right in the middle of fava bean season here in the Pacific Northwest. Here’s a recipe to enjoy for the next few weeks and hopefully greet these guys with next year.
When shopping for fava beans, look for decent-sized pods with thick, solid peas. While you can sometimes buy shelled favas, it’s probably not worth the extra cost; I find shelling easy and fun anyway.
But I’m getting head of myself. Here’s what we’ll be making: fava bean soup with morel mushrooms and carrot cream.
For the soup, we will need:
- 1 cup shelled fava beans, skin removed
- 1 medium gold potato, cubed
- 1 small onion, diced
- 1 medium carrot, thinly sliced
- 1 small stalk celery, thinly sliced
- 1/2 cup morel mushrooms, sliced, divided in half
- 1/2 cup white wine
- 1/2 cup stock, chicken or veggie
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
And for the cream:
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1 tbsp sour cream
- 1 medium carrot, shredded or grated
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp salt
It’s hard to estimate how much favas you’ll need in pods to yield 1 cup shelled beans - maybe 1 to 2 lb? Buy more and I’m sure you’ll have no problem using up the leftovers. If you can’t find morel mushrooms, substitute whatever ones you can find.
We’ll start by preparing the beans. Shell them by breaking the pod and removing the white-coated beans. This should be fun, especially since the inside of fava pods feels like a fuzzy Muppet. Do it over a bag and it won’t take a minute.
You’re still not looking at the beans, though. The white wax coating is edible but not tasty; you’ll want to remove it. Do this by boiling the beans for 3 minutes, until they’re a bit softer. Run them under cold water in a strainer so they’re cool enough to handle. They’ll also shrivel a little, making it easier to pierce the coating with your fingernails (or a knife) and extract the wonderfully green beans inside. This might take a few minutes - employ a child or a loved one while you dice up the rest.
Let’s get cooking: melt 3 tbsp of butter over medium-high heat in a medium-sized pot. Add the onion, carrot, and celery. Cook for 2-3 minutes, then add the potato. Stir for another 3 minutes, then add the beans and half the mushrooms.
The water should be evaporating pretty quickly now so hit the pot with the wine and stir to make sure nothing’s sticking to the bottom. When most of the wine cooks off, add the stock, stir, cover, and drop the heat to low. Keep it there for 20-30 minutes, adjusting the heat as needed. The soup should bubble lively but not violently. Turn off the heat when the potatoes are soft.
While the soup is cooking, combine all the cream ingredients except sour cream and refrigerate. When the soup is done and cooling off, strain the cream mix into a large bowl, pressing to extract as much carrot juice as you can. Add the sour cream and whip this into a stiff cream; an immersion blender with a whisk attachment works great - I like the Braun model.
It’s double handy because you’ll also need it in the next step: pureeing the soup. Immersion blenders are awesome because they let you liquify your soup right in the pot, piping hot. If you only have a regular blender, do NOT attempt to blend hot soup; wait until it cools off. Either way, puree the soup well and strain it. Straining is not strictly necessary, but it makes a difference between a diner soup and a wedding-anniversary-restaurant soup. Add the 1/4 cup of cream, season with salt and pepper, and stir one last time.
In a small pan, quickly fry the remaining mushroom slices in olive oil. When they’re done, add more oil and fry some baguette slices.
Serve by topping the soup with a dollop of carrot cream, a few fried mushroom slices, maybe some chopped chives and a drop or two of truffle oil.
