Ignacio Mattos’ Grilled Favas
And now, it's time to polish them off. Don't be shy.
The fact is: fava beans were born edible, from pod to peel to bean.
Just start with three to four cloves of garlic.
And chop them up.
Measure a teaspoon of fresh rosemary.
Grind up your chile pepper.
Now, mix your garlic, rosemary, and chile pepper in a bowl and add the fleur de sel.
The water.
And the olive oil.
Add your fava beans.
And mix them up!
Chop up those seven to eight anchovies. (Yes, it sounds like a lot, but trust us on this one.)
Now, it's time to get those fava beans on the grill.
Grill the favas for several minutes, until nice and charred. Flip them and char the other side.
Back in the bowl they go with a good helping of anchovies.
And plenty of lemon.
Last step: mix them well.
Genius Recipes says: Look for the smallest, cutest favas you can find. But even if you're stuck with the big, gnarly ones, you can eat the pods you want, and just pop out the inner beans for the ones you don't -- they'll still slide out more easily after they've been cooked. (Trust us on the anchovy.) Recipe adapted very slightly from New York Magazine
Serves 4 to 6
- 1 pound fresh fava beans in their pods, the younger the better
- 1 teaspoon fleur de sel
- 1 teaspoon ground chile pepper
- 1 teaspoon picked rosemary
- 3 to 4 cloves chopped garlic
- 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more to finish
- 2 tablespoons water
- 1 lemon
- 7 or 8 canned anchovies in oil, chopped finely
- 1 handful toasted bread crumbs (optional)
- Mix first 7 ingredients together in a large bowl. Toss to coat the fava pods, then place them on the grill over medium-high heat.
- Grill favas for several minutes, until charred, then flip them over and char the other side, cooking until the pods seem about to open.
- Remove pods from grill, return them to the mixing bowl, and squeeze the lemon over them. Toss the pods to coat. Check the seasoning, and add salt if necessary.
- Add the anchovies to the bowl, mixing well.
- Place the pods on a serving platter, drizzle to taste with olive oil, and sprinkle the bread crumbs on top, if using. Serve hot or at room temperature; eat with your hands or with forks and knives, depending on how messy you want to get.
- This recipe is a Community Pick!







5 months ago Chrissie64
Sorry but I'm still confused! I love the look of this recipe...but do you eat the lot or do you still have to peel the finished product? My inclination would be to eat the lot! (As a child growing up in Tasmania my mother used to slice the pod into approx 1" intervals and lightly boil so we actually ate the lot. We called them broad beans and we grew them in the garden).
5 months ago ehg
Go ahead and eat them whole which I think is the beauty of this recipe. Of course, using smaller pods is key to avoiding the stringiness. The anchovies are also essential for the flavor though I love the other poster's suggestion of fish sauce as a subsitute if needed. Even a couple of months later I'm crazy about this recipe and think it could be adapted to other veggies. In fact, I used the leftover marinade with radicchio and grilled it. Yummy!
7 months ago BoulderGalinTokyo
The favas had a really terrific flavor, and were very easy to prepare. The recipe didn't call for it, but I removed the strings like a green bean. My husband thought they were too small for favas-- I said the recipe called for 'young' favas, mine were about 2 1/2 inches long. We grilled until they were a little more cooked than the picture.
Like I said it tasted great, and it is hard to say this politely, but there was a lot of fiber--so much you need little plates for the chewed fiber (unchewable). The beans inside were small and didn't soak up sauce, so we ate the whole fava-- wondering the whole time if there are different types (softer?) of favas.
8 months ago TheWimpyVegetarian
Made these a few days ago and really loved them. I thought the key was definitely to get young one. The larger older ones were a little stringy, although still really good and the beans themselves were terrific either way. But the young ones that were more tender were fantastic. Easiest way I've ever seen to prepare fava beans, and one I'll use many more times.
8 months ago hardlikearmour
Made these the other night and they are fantastic! I microplaned the garlic so it would be well distributed, and didn't have any anchovies, so substituted a generous glug of fish sauce. My husband and I polished off an entire batch. Can't wait to get more favas to do it again.
8 months ago dymnyno
I am putting these on the grill tomorrow night...thanks for a great recipe!!!
8 months ago TheWimpyVegetarian
You're back home, Mare?? We just arrived in Tahoe today for 10 days. Can we ever be in the same area at the same time???
8 months ago baltimoregon
Delish! I may never peel favas again, though it is a meditative task. The anchovy flavor melds in so seamlessly, my husband couldn't even identify the key umami ingredient. The pods blistered nicely in a hot cast iron pan instead of the grill.
8 months ago j_en
Peeling favas is my least favorite kitchen task (besides trimming artichokes), but I'm never doing it again -- these are so outrageously good, I just demolished the entire bowl in one sitting (well, I actually didn't make it out of the kitchen). The anchovies are perfect, but I may try replacing them with capers for my vegan boyfriend. The only thing stopping me from licking the bowl was the nettle pasta sauce I had brewing -- tossed the remaining marinade right in.
8 months ago petitbleu
I can't believe how timely this article is. We just bought some lovely favas and were dreading the shelling process. So glad to be relieved of that duty!
8 months ago Idit
I wish I had this recipe last night before I spent over an hour shelling and peeling fresh favas. Cannot wait to try this recipe. Thank you.
8 months ago ehg
Just prepared this...amazing!!!
8 months ago ehg
Just prepared this...amazing!!!
8 months ago ehg
Just prepared this.....AMAZING!!!!
8 months ago thirschfeld
These are so good and such a great treat!
8 months ago TheWimpyVegetarian
What an interesting idea! I've got a bunch of favas right now that I've been putting off going through the shelling gauntlet that I want to try this with. Thanks for posting this!!