Fava Bean

A fusion of flavors and technique from two cuisines makes this main course taste new. The cooking method is based on an Italian fricassea made with egg yolks and cream; the combination of favas and mint is Middle Eastern. The resulting dish is absolutely delicious. Serve with plenty of crusty bread to mop up the sauce.

You can use frozen baby lima beans (with the same delicious result) instead of the fresh favas, which are harder to find.

Farro, an old-world wheat variety, has taken today's Tuscan cooking by storm. It has been cultivated in the Garfagnana — an area of forests in northern Tuscany — for millennia. Traditionally, the grain was used to make soups and porridge; now it's a part of any number of dishes, including risotto, where it replaces the rice, and salads like this one. If you cannot find farro, use wheat berries.

(MINESTRA DI CAMPAGNA) Creativity with simple ingredients is one of the themes of Sicilian cooking. There's no better example than this bean and vegetable soup, which some say evolved from food that fifteenth-century galley cooks made for mariners. Serve an island dry red wine such as Corvo with this.

If you can't find fresh fava beans, use edamame (fresh green soybeans in the pod). You'll need to buy two pounds to yield the 3/4 cup for the recipe; do not peel. What to drink: Sauvignon Blanc or a dry Spanish white made from Albariño grapes.

In this recipe we used fresh baby lima beans (the frozen ones are excellent, too), but you can substitute any other fresh young shell beans such as fava or cranberry beans.

Active time: 40 min Start to finish: 40 min

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Peeled, split fava beans for this Egyptian falafel are available in most Italian or Middle Eastern grocery stores. Ta’miyya is served with tehina.

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Here's a good example of Thomas Keller's culinary magic: Simple flavors come together spectacularly in this special dish from The French Laundry in Napa Valley.

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Think of this as carbonara minus the eggs but still with massive amounts of flavor from guanciale, black pepper, and Pecorino.

Green beans! Green asparagus! Green pistachios! ... You get the idea—this salad is a celebration of spring. If you can’t find fava beans, substitute English peas or sugar snap peas instead.