Fava beans are so delicious and so good for you. It has a higher percentage of protein than a lot of other beans. It’s meaty woodsy flavor works very well with slow roasted garlic.

Chef’s tip: Do invest in the time in using fresh beans.  While it may take you a a 20 more minutes to shell, blanch and peel them, it’s like a whole different bean from those muddy brown dried or canned ones.

Ingredients

1 baguette, sliced 3/8-inch at a diagonal
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 clove garlic
2 lbs fava in the pod (yields about 2 cups)
5 cloves garlic
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
Sea salt
Fresh ground black pepper
3 basil leaves, chiffonade
A wedge of pecorino
1 lemon
Lemon oil – “O” Meyer Lemon Olive Oil

To make the crostini:
1.    Slice baguette into 3/8 inch thick pieces. Place bread slices on a sheet pan, brush one side with olive oil.
2.    Bake in a 375F oven for 7-10 minutes until golden brown. Immediately rub with a piece of garlic.
To pod and peel the fava beans:
3.    Break off the top of the pod, and then slide your thumb along the pod’s vein to split the pod into two. DO this over a colander to catch the falling bean.
4.    Now you will see a very white bean. You still need to peel this thick membrane. To do so, bring a pot of salted water to boil, blanch the beans (30 secs) and plunge them into a bowl of ice water. Drain. Pick up a bean, and make a small tear at the top of the bean – where it used to connect to the shell. Then gently squeeze /pop out the bright green fava bean. Set aside – refrain from munching on them.
To make the garlic confit and spread:
5.    Put the olive oil and whole garlic in a small pot and bring to a simmer. lower heat and gently roast the garlic for 20 minutes until the garlic is soft and tender.
6.    Place the fava bean, the garlic confit (oil and all) into a large bowl and gently mash with a fork. For a rustic texture, leave some chunks behind. Add basil and salt and pepper.
Assembling the crostini:
7.    Spread a tablespoon of the fava bean mash on the crostini. Using a microplane rasp, zest some lemon zest on top of the mash. Using a vegetable peeler, gently shave a thin slice of pecorino and place on top of the crostini. Finish with the lemon oil and a twist of black pepper.

Serves: 6

Tags: Californian, crostini, finger foods, Vegetarian