Favas and mint are a classic combination, and you will find the two in many recipes. Here is another. The prosciutto is optional, but provides a nice bit of savory saltiness that goes well. This role could be filled by shavings of Pecorino cheese or fricco*, which is a sort of cracker or tuile made of melted cheese. This is the sort of salad that could be served as a course on its own or could be used as an accompaniment to a main course item such as grilled salmon or chicken.
INGREDIENTS:
2-3 cups young shelled fava beans2 spring onions, bulb only, sliced thinly into rings and quick pickled**
2 tablespoons fresh mint leaves, stacked, rolled, and sliced very finely (This is called a “chiffonade” in restaurants.)
2 tablespoons lemon juice
6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 small pinch thyme
1-2 cups arugula (“wild” preferably) cleaned and trimmed into bite sized bits
Salt and pepper to taste
8 whisper thin slices of prosciutto or deli Virginia ham
METHOD:
Put the lemon juice into a non-reactive bowl and sprinkle a little salt, pepper, and the thyme into the lemon juice and let macerate five minutes or so. Slowly, in a thin stream, whisk in the olive oil to form an emulsion. Bring a large pot of water to the boil, and salt the water with a couple tablespoons of salt. Have a bowl large enough to hold the favas in filled with ice water handy.
Blanch the favas for around 90-120 seconds. If they are small, they should be just cooked through. Check one after 60 seconds to see if this is the right time frame. You want the favas to be just cooked through. When they are just done, drain and transfer to the ice water to arrest the cooking and quick chill them.
If you do not have them in the refrigerator, make the quick pickled onions now (see recipe). While the onions wilt and pickle, peel the fava beans.
When the beans are peeled, dress them with a little dressing and toss them to coat. Season with salt and pepper. Drain the pickled onions well, and toss in with the favas. Toss to coat with dressing. Add the arugula, toss to coat and mix well with the vegetables. Taste for seasoning, and add more salt and pepper or dressing if needed, but remember you will be adding the prosciutto which is salty. If the balance is right, sprinkle with the mint chiffonade, give a gentle toss and plate on four plates.
At this point, there are several options: Drape two slices of prosciutto over each salad, tear or cut the prosciutto into strips and drape it or mix it in with the mint, or go the cheese route. For fresh Romano, use a vegetable peeler to scrape paper thin shards of cheese over the salad. For fricco, place fricco over the salad and serve right away.
Chef’s Notes:
*Fricco are a lacey cheese “cracker” or tuile (recipe here).
** If you wish, you could skip the quick pickling and just use the onion raw, but be sure to slice it really finely, or halve the onion and slice finely along the length of the onion (This is a “Lyonnaise cut”). You could also use just the tops of the onions, slicing very finely on a steep diagonal, which would be milder than raw onions and quicker than pickling.
This salad would work quite well as a bed for just grilled salmon, but I would leave off any cheese, and I would not use the Virginia ham although I could see possibly using prosciutto. I could definitely see taking a Meyer lemon and halving it lengthwise then slicing it into paper thin half-moons and toss them into the salad before putting the salmon on top.
Serves: 4
Source: Chef Andrew E Cohen
If you enjoyed this article, please consider sharing it!
