Fava Bean Ravioli

After several abortive attempts to make ravioli by hand, we finally broke down and bought a press from Fante's in the Italian Market.


It took us a few moments to figure out how it worked, but the friendly matriarch that mills about the kitchen ware shop gave us a quick lesson on how you used the press, along with a tip to put egg-wash or water on the edges of the ravioli sheet just before you lay them together.



On our way through the market, we spotted some great looking Fava Beans; we picked up some fresh ricotta from Claudio's and then settled on Fava Bean & Ravioli.



Here we've shelled the beans, then boiled them for a few minutes and finally shocked them in cold water before removing them from the husk, revealing that emerald green beauty within.

Meanwhile, our ricotta filled ravioli were all pressed and prepped for the boiling pot of salted water.



Once the beans were shelled, we threw them in a pan with a little bit of olive oil and butter...we've also used pancetta or proscutti & minced shallots or just good old diced bacon and minced onion to go into the sauteed beans...it mostly depends on how much oomph you want to give those beans. I think the olive oil & butter kept it naked and simple so that the fava flavor could announce itself.



Plating was a breeze...ravioli, fava and some grated pecorino romano with a dusting of black pepper.

You could also serve this fava bean saute with gnocchi to get a similar effect without all the hardware.