How to Use Up All Your Spring Produce
Empty your fridge's bounty with these two recipes
We’re in the waning days of spring, but my crisper drawer is still abundant with all the season’s hallmarks: asparagus, peas, fava beans, artichokes. I can’t go to the market this time of year without jamming a tote bag full with a few pounds of vegetables. And no salad, no matter how big, can take care of all this produce before it spoils; it’s time to get creative before the favas disappear.
There are many, many dishes to help you do this, but this week I’m spotlighting two that I’ve been making a lot this season. The first is a Roman classic known as vignarola, which I think is one of the great underrated dishes of Italy. It’s somewhere between a stew and a stir fry, featuring all those vibrant, green vegetables that erupt in the springtime at seemingly the same instant. Artichokes and favas are required; peas are a nice addition, and occasionally you’ll see wilted escarole or lettuce as well. All of this is cooked down until soft — thoroughly braised, but still a tiny bit al dente — with guanciale, a splash of white wine, and Pecorino Romano. The perfect Roman spring.
The second recipe is, admittedly, a salad. But the presence of tonnato — a saucy mayonnaise blended with oil-packed tuna — amps it up into something a bit more exciting. Here, you’ll blanch the vegetables and toss them simply with lemon juice, sea salt, and olive oil, before letting them relax in a small pool of the tonnato and dragging your fork through it. It’s a light and beautiful way to enjoy the season’s verdant offerings, before it’s all tomato all the time.
Vignarola
Ingredients
2 pounds of fresh fava beans, still in their pods; you can also use a smaller quantity of frozen favas if needed
1 pound of fresh English peas (can also resort to a smaller quantity of frozen peas if needed)
4-5 artichoke hearts, trimmed, cleaned, and quartered; you can also used canned, but they should be in olive oil
3 bulbs of green garlic (can substitute scallions), sliced thin
Optional: 1 cup of chopped escarole or lettuce
Approx. 1/2 - 3/4ths of a cup of diced yellow onion
1 small slab of guanciale, diced into medium-sized chunks (about 1/2 cup)
1 small handful of mint, chopped finely
Dry white wine
1 cup water (if you have some pasta water fresh on the stove, even better)
1 cup of finely grated Pecorino Romano cheese
Extra virgin olive oil
Kosher salt
Cracked black pepper
1 lemon for zesting
Instructions
Prepare the favas:
Split the pods down the middle with your fingers and remove the beans into a bowl. Discard the pods.
Bring a small saucepan of water to a boil and generously salt. Add the beans and cook for 2-3 minutes, until they are an opaque light green.
Remove the beans and immediately run cold water over them or deposit in an ice bath. Once they’ve cooled, pinch the opaque outer skins and squeeze out the bright green inner beans into a small bowl. Discard any that are too yellow or hard. Douse with olive oil and set aside.
Prepare the peas:
Split the pods down the middle with your fingers and remove the peas into a bowl. Discard the pods.
Bring a small saucepan of water to a boil and generously salt. Add the peas and cook for 4-5 minutes, until they are slightly soft, just barely wrinkled, and still bright green.
Remove the peas and immediately run cold water over them or deposit in an ice bath. Set aside in a small bowl.
In a pan over medium-high heat, sauté the guanciale with a small amount of olive oil. Once it is moderately crispy and has rendered its fat (don’t let it get too dark — about 5 minutes), remove the guanciale and place on a plate with a paper towel.
Add the diced onion and green garlic to the pan, with the guanciale fat and a bit more olive oil, and cook until soft. Deglaze with a splash of white wine.
Add the favas, peas, and artichoke hearts, as well as a cup of water. Cook on high heat until the water has cooked down and the vegetables have softened, but aren’t completely mushy. The favas and peas should be a darker, more yellow green.
If using escarole or lettuce, add this towards the end and cook until just lightly wilted.
Once the vegetables are finished cooking, turn off the heat. Add the chopped mint, the reserved guanciale, and a generous amount of Pecorino and stir, coating the vegetables lightly in an emulsified sauce. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Plate and drizzle with olive oil. Top with Pecorino and lemon zest. This dish works well over some stracciatella or burrata, or with polenta, pasta, or rice porridge.
Asparagus, Favas and Watercress with Tonnato
Ingredients
4-5 very large stalks of asparagus
1 pound of fresh fava beans in their pods
One small bunch of watercress, washed, dried, and chopped very roughly (the leaves should generally remain whole)
1 can of high-quality oil packed tuna (Ortiz, Callipo, Tonnino, As Do Mar, etc.)
1 egg yolk
1 garlic clove
1 tablespoon of Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon of champagne or red wine vinegar
1 small handful of mint, chopped
Extra virgin olive oil
1 lemon
Kosher salt
Cracked black pepper
Instructions
Prepare the favas:
Split the pods down the middle with your fingers and remove the beans into a bowl. Discard the pods.
Bring a small saucepan of water to a boil and generously salt. Add the beans and cook for 2-3 minutes, until they are an opaque light green.
Remove the beans and immediately run cold water over them or deposit in an ice bath. Once they’ve cooled, pinch the opaque outer skins and squeeze out the bright green inner beans into a small bowl. Discard any that are too yellow or hard.
Put the favas back into the boiling water and cook for another 3-4 minutes. Blanch, dry, and set aside.
Prepare the asparagus:
Snap the woody ends off. Peel the asparagus lengthwise towards the head.
Bring a small saucepan of water to a boil and generously salt. Add the asparagus and cook for 3-4 minutes.
Immediately deposit into an ice bath or cold water. Dry, douse with olive oil, and set aside.
Prepare the tonnato:
In a food processor or blender, combine the tuna and its oil, the garlic clove, egg yolk, mustard, vinegar, salt, pepper, and the juice of half the lemon. Pulse this until it’s incorporated and the garlic is blended, then slowly stream in a generous amount of olive oil while the processor is running, until it becomes an aioli.
Add a bit of water depending on how thin you want it, and continue blending. For this dish, I like it saucy but not too runny; it usually just takes a small shot of water.
Cut the asparagus on a very diagonal bias into 1/2 inch wedges.
In a bowl, combine the asparagus, favas, watercress, and mint. Dress with olive oil, the remaining lemon juice, and a generous amount of salt and pepper.
Spoon a small circle of tonnato onto a plate, then place the salad on top of that. Drizzle with olive oil and top with lemon zest and sea salt.