Favas Escoadas
Portuguese people have been enjoying fava beans (broad beans) for a very long time, way before Hannibal Lecter was having them with Chianti. There are many ways to prepare favas, stewed, baked, in salads, in soup, even fried as a chip. These favas escoadas (broad beans that are drained), are served as a petisico (snack), usually alongside other petisicos, fried linguiça, fried morcela, boiled eggs, and washed down with a nice cold beer or wine. Like every other Portuguese recipe, there are a billion different ways of making these. The first part consists of boiling the fava beans, the second part is adding them to a sauce. The sauce is made up most commonly of onions, garlic, parsley, massa malagueta, olive oil and sometimes vinegar. These are all mixed together, and then added to the fava beans, the sauce is a raw one, not cooked, giving the dish a big bite! So here is where these are different, I like to cook the sauce, I just like how it mellows out the flavors, and this way the garlic and onions aren't so harsh! These little guys are really addictive, perfect for enjoying as a starter or as an appetizer, and who knows, maybe they do pair well with some Chianti.
800 grams frozen fava/broad beans (or 1 kilo fresh)
about 6 cups of water ( enough to cover the beans)
Sauce
1/4 cup olive oil ( or a bit more)
2 small onions finely diced
4-5 garlic cloves minced
a handful of parsley, chopped
2 heaping tablespoons of massa de malagueta ( start with one, if you don't like heat)
2 teaspoons paprika
1 cup of beer
salt to taste
Bring the 6 cups of water to a boil, once it has come to a full rolling boil, throw in the frozen fava beans. Bring back to the boil and simmer, cook the beans for about 5- 10 minutes. You want them to be tender when you squeeze them, but not turned into mush. Fresh picked beans will take a bit longer, and the size of the fava bean will also increase your cooking time.
Remove from heat, and drain them, and reserve them to the side while you make the sauce.
In the same pot/pan you boiled the fava beans in, heat up the olive oil.
Once it is hot, add the onions and garlic, over a medium heat, stir them around, you want them just golden, and not burnt. Add the parsley, the massa de malagueta, and the paprika, mix everyting together, once combined add in the beer, stir and simmer for 10-15 minutes. Add in the cooked fava beans, adjust seasoning, add salt, or more spice, simmer for another 5- 10 minutes. Remove from heat.
I let mine cool down in the pan, stirring them every so often, so that the fava beans are coated. Ideally these are best if made a couple of hours before you serve them, and that is so the flavors develop.
Serve them in one large dish, or in smaller ones to make sharing easier. We use toothpicks, to spear them, and gobble them up!
**here I can only get fresh or frozen fava beans, but I know you can buy them in cans also, if you don't happen to live on an island like me ;)
** if using canned , no need to boil them, just add them to the sauce
*** for heat I use massa de malagueta, but you could use chili flakes, or sriracha sauce, or piri piri
***remember it's your dish, adjust the ingredients to your liking
800 grams frozen fava/broad beans (or 1 kilo fresh)
about 6 cups of water ( enough to cover the beans)
Sauce
1/4 cup olive oil ( or a bit more)
2 small onions finely diced
4-5 garlic cloves minced
a handful of parsley, chopped
2 heaping tablespoons of massa de malagueta ( start with one, if you don't like heat)
2 teaspoons paprika
1 cup of beer
salt to taste
Bring the 6 cups of water to a boil, once it has come to a full rolling boil, throw in the frozen fava beans. Bring back to the boil and simmer, cook the beans for about 5- 10 minutes. You want them to be tender when you squeeze them, but not turned into mush. Fresh picked beans will take a bit longer, and the size of the fava bean will also increase your cooking time.
Remove from heat, and drain them, and reserve them to the side while you make the sauce.
In the same pot/pan you boiled the fava beans in, heat up the olive oil.
Once it is hot, add the onions and garlic, over a medium heat, stir them around, you want them just golden, and not burnt. Add the parsley, the massa de malagueta, and the paprika, mix everyting together, once combined add in the beer, stir and simmer for 10-15 minutes. Add in the cooked fava beans, adjust seasoning, add salt, or more spice, simmer for another 5- 10 minutes. Remove from heat.
I let mine cool down in the pan, stirring them every so often, so that the fava beans are coated. Ideally these are best if made a couple of hours before you serve them, and that is so the flavors develop.
Serve them in one large dish, or in smaller ones to make sharing easier. We use toothpicks, to spear them, and gobble them up!
**here I can only get fresh or frozen fava beans, but I know you can buy them in cans also, if you don't happen to live on an island like me ;)
** if using canned , no need to boil them, just add them to the sauce
*** for heat I use massa de malagueta, but you could use chili flakes, or sriracha sauce, or piri piri
***remember it's your dish, adjust the ingredients to your liking
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