I look forward to the appearance of the first fava beans in springtime. For me, they are a sign of the end of winter and the promise of warm weather and the new growing season. Favas are versatile and work well with many ingredients. I love to combine them with Dave Andrade’s pristine littleneck clams. This warm dish is a perfect combination of pure flavors.
Ingredients
- 24 littleneck clams, washed and scrubbed
- ½ cup dry white wine
- 1 garlic clove
- 1 pound cleaned calamari, cut into rings, tentacles left whole
- 2 pounds fresh fava beans, shells and skins removed (should yield about 1 cup)
- 4 scallions, thinly sliced, placed in ice water
- ½ cup loosely packed parsley leaves, finely chopped
- 6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- Juice of 1 lemon
- Maldon Sea Salt
Instructions
Place the clams, wine, garlic and ½ cup of water in a large covered pan. Steam the clams over medium heat. Check the clams after about 5 minutes and place the open clams into 4 warm bowls. Continue steaming, checking every few minutes, until all the clams have opened and been distributed evenly between the bowls.
Add the calamari and fava beans to the pan, stir constantly and cook for 3–4 minutes, until the calamari is firm.
Remove the garlic clove. Drain all but 1½ cups cooking liquid and add the scallions, parsley, olive oil and lemon juice to the calamari. Divide the calamari and fava beans among the 4 bowls. Finish each bowl with a pinch of sea salt. Serves 4 as a first course or light supper.
Recipe courtesy of Executive Chef David Reynoso, Al Forno, Providence.
