For Mother’s Day, I cooked strascinati with fava bean cream and stracciatella. The fava bean and chicory purée is a typical recipe from Apulia and nearby regions; often leftover fava bean purée is used as pasta sauce. And it is from this that my idea originates, a regional spring recipe, with lemon and mint, to which I added a handful of tender and crisp peas and a heart of creamy stracciatella.
With this recipe, I’m participating in the #PastaYourWay project organized by Pasta Berruto 1881, aiming to promote an inclusive culture and a sustainable lifestyle. It’s a one-pot meal, prepared in a balanced way with sustainable local ingredients.
If you like fava beans, also check out:
Fava bean purée, Camone tomatoes, buffalo mozzarella and pesto – How to prepare a good quick lunch
You can also taste
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Economical
- Preparation time: 30 Minutes
- Portions: 4
- Cooking methods: Stove
- Cuisine: Italian Regional
- Energy 578.95 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 56.19 (g) of which sugars 11.90 (g)
- Proteins 26.26 (g)
- Fat 26.16 (g) of which saturated 2.16 (g)of which unsaturated 0.62 (g)
- Fibers 17.79 (g)
- Sodium 949.53 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 300 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Let’s look at the ingredients of this revised regional recipe
For this recipe, I used fresh fava beans, which are in season, but the fava bean cream will turn out just as well with dried fava beans (shelled and split). Taralli can be replaced with a handful of bread crumbs toasted in a pan with oil, salt, and chili pepper, making them crispy and flavorful.
- 12 oz pasta (Strascinati 601, from the regional line by Pasta Berruto)
- 28 oz fava beans (to clean)
- 14 oz peas (to clean; small and fresh)
- 7 oz stracciatella (very fresh)
- 4 tbsps extra virgin olive oil
- 1 lemon (untreated)
- 1 sprig mint (fresh, just about ten leaves)
- 1 tsp salt (fine, plus coarse salt for the pasta water)
- 2 taralli (crumbled with chili pepper)
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What tools are needed?
A good immersion blender is enough to blend the fava beans, and then we’ll need a large pot, a colander, and a bowl for seasoning. Finally, an excellent appetite is essential.
- 1 Immersion Blender
How to prepare strascinati with fava beans and stracciatella
Strascinati, or rather stràscenàte, are close relatives of Bari orecchiette. The ingredients are the same – always durum wheat semolina and water – and they are prepared the same way, dragging the dough with fingers on the pastry board. However, strascinati are not flipped and remain flat and long, while orecchiette take on their characteristic round and concave shape. I chose this pasta shape because it’s traditionally seasoned with vegetables, and it brings us back to the fragrances, tastes, and flavors of Apulia and neighboring regions with which it shares recipes and traditions. The company Pasta Berruto 1881 addresses everyone but with the #PastaYourWay project, especially young people, so it’s to them I propose my strascinati with fava bean cream and stracciatella, which I prepared by choosing among various formats of regional pastas that Berruto offers.
My recipe is very simple, and I thought of it in anticipation of Mother’s Day so that everyone, even young people, can cook it for their mom without making excuses. So let’s gather the seasonal ingredients and get to work. If you want to know more (and I recommend it), below are two short articles to read. Did you know that Bari orecchiette date back to the 12th century? And that there are at least two versions of their origins? Pasta is truly our history, we carry it within us, intertwined with the foundations of our DNA…Orecchiette, stràscenàte and Co. The galaxy of fresh pasta in Apulia, from La cucina Italiana, January 2020
Puglian orecchiette: the symbol of Apulia, by Lorenzo VinciBring a large pot of water to a boil. While waiting for it to boil, shell the fava beans and collect them in a bowl. If any are too large, be sure to remove the inner skin. Then throw them into the unsalted boiling water and let them cook for about 10 minutes.
While the fava beans are cooking, shell the peas, which should be small, young, and tender, and set aside.With the help of a slotted spoon, drain the fava beans without discarding the water. Pour them into the tall glass of the immersion blender, add the juice of half a lemon, a tablespoon of oil, fresh mint, and salt. Then blend very well, and if necessary, help with a tablespoon of cooking water.
Taste the fava bean cream to adjust if necessary with more salt or lemon.Salt the water in which the fava beans cooked and add the pasta, which cooks for 14 minutes. We will have plenty of time to organize the dishes. Get a bowl in which to pour the fava bean cream. Add a little more oil and mix well. Set up four deep plates on the table, the stracciatella, the peas, and the taralli (or well-seasoned and toasted bread crumbs).
Once the strascinati are al dente, drain them and pour them into the bowl, carefully mixing them with the fava bean cream. Then divide them into four plates. Make a small nest in the center of each to hold a generous spoonful of cold stracciatella. Add a handful of peas and crumbled chili taralli to each bowl to give the dish a bit of a kick and complete it with a crunchy note.
The Queen’s Variations
The company Pasta Berruto 1881 addresses everyone, but with the project #PastaYourWay, especially young people, so it’s to them I propose my strascinati with fava bean cream and stracciatella, which I prepared by choosing among various formats of regional pastas that Berruto offers.
My recipe is very simple, and I thought of it in anticipation of Mother’s Day so that everyone, even young people, can cook it for their mom without making excuses. Let’s gather the seasonal ingredients and get to work. This preparation is, of course, a one-pot dish. It would be even more balanced if, instead of the fresh peas (adorable), we added a vegetable and not a legume.
I propose three different ones to possibly replace the peas:
⁕ Puntarelle, raw and crunchy, which could also be seasoned with anchovy;
⁕ Camone tomatoes, a Sardinian variety that precedes other tomatoes, particularly firm and flavorful,
⁕ Artichokes sliced thinly and fried. If you choose this particularly indulgent variant, do not add the crispy crumbs: the artichokes already provide a crunch.
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Note: This recipe contains affiliate links.
Return to the HOME to get to know me better by reading About Me, discover Vegetarian Dishes, Traditional Ligurian Recipes, and all the good things the Queen in the Kitchen prepares.
Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and now also on Telegram: you’ll see you’ll never be out of dinner ideas!
Note: This recipe contains affiliate links.
