Sicilian Fava Bean Purée with Wild Fennel. It’s a typical recipe from the Sicilian peasant tradition.
It even dates back to Roman times.
It is a very nutritious dish usually prepared for St. Joseph’s Day.
Today I present it to you with 3 solutions: the soup, with pasta, and fried.
One hundred grams of fresh fava beans correspond to about 70 calories, they are sources of vitamins, especially C and many of the B group, vitamin A and E, and minerals; good presence of iron, accompanied by potassium, phosphorus, calcium, sodium, magnesium, copper, selenium. You will find the traditional recipe and subsequently the one with the Bimby.

Recipes thought for you:

Difficulty: Very Easy
Cost: Very Cheap
Preparation time: 2 Hours
Portions: 4
Cooking methods: Stovetop
Cuisine: Regional Italian
Region: Sicily
Seasonality: Fall, Winter, and Spring

247.27 Kcal

calories per serving

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Energy 247.27 (Kcal)
Carbohydrates 30.41 (g) of which sugars 3.68 (g)
Proteins 12.35 (g)
Fat 8.35 (g) of which saturated 1.25 (g)of which unsaturated 0.88 (g)
Fibers 8.93 (g)
Sodium 468.51 (mg)

Indicative values for a portion of 250 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

Ingredients

7 oz Dried fava beans (shelled)
2 bunches Swiss chard (or frozen spinach)
1 bunch wild fennel
2 oz white onion
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
to taste salt
3 cups water (approximately)
1 tsp bouillon cube

Sicilian Fava Bean Purée with Wild Fennel

Tools

Pan or Bimby
Wooden Spoon

Preparation of Sicilian Fava Bean Purée with Swiss Chard and Wild Fennel

Traditional Recipe

Soak the fava beans in water about twice their level for 12 hours.
Do not discard the soaking water as it is rich in minerals.
Next, chop the wild fennel; you may blend it with a bit of extra virgin olive oil.
In a pan, prepare the sauté with: EVO oil, onion,
Once the onion is wilted, add the soaked fava beans, a little chopped fennel, and part of the water.
Keep the rest to add later. Cook until the fava beans become soft. This will take about 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, wash the chard in plenty of water, remove roots and damaged parts, chop finely.
Bring a pot with water and salt to a boil, cook the chard for 8 minutes, then drain and set aside.
Plate with a bit of chard and plenty of fennel.
Serve with croutons.
You can cook pasta risotto-style in these legumes.
Then you will add more cooking water, and if there remains a bit, once it cools, you can slice it and fry it like polenta. Here is the Sicilian Fava Bean Purée with Wild Fennel, traditionally cooked.
The fava beans should be soaked for at least 12 hours before.
Place the vegetables in the Varoma, and close it.
You can use frozen ones safely.
Put the onion in the mixing bowl and chop: 10 sec./speed 5. Bring back to the bottom with the spatula.
Add the extra virgin olive oil and flavor: 3 min./250°F/speed 1
Add the finely chopped wild fennel, and the fava beans, mix: 30 sec./speed 2.
Add the water, the bouillon cube, and salt, cook: 30 min./212°F/speed 3
with the Varoma placed on top.
You will hear the Bimby making a lot of noise and vibrating, don’t worry, it’s normal, after a while it will stop.
Cook: 10 min./Varoma/speed 1.
Remove the Varoma with the vegetables and keep them warm.
Blend: 20 sec./speed 8.
Serve by adding a bit of chard and plenty of fennel.
Serve with croutons.
You can cook pasta risotto-style in these legumes.
Then you will cook it in a pot adding more cooking water, and if there remains a bit, once it cools, you can slice it and fry it like polenta. Here is the Sicilian Fava Bean Purée with Wild Fennel, with the Bimby.