Has anyone here peeled fresh fava beans? I've got my first crop of them ever, and Richard Olney says

J

joe

Well-known member
the individual beans should be peeled if they're over 3/4 long, but doesn't say how to do it. They didn't peel easily while raw, so I cooked them as is, and sure enough, the skins puckered up and looked like the dead skin over a broken blister--not very appetizing.

I tried peeling them at that point, and it came off easily, but I burned my fingers, and some of the beans got mashed.

So I ended up just closing my eyes while I ate them and they were delicious.

Has anyone else cooked fresh favas?

 
I just blanch them quickly and then the skins slide right off. They are delicious! I have been

watching at Whole Foods and they haven't gotten any yet. I hope they get some soon!

 
I almost always peel them, whether or not the inner skins are thick, just for that beautiful

color. As Barbara says, you can blanch them briefly, then shock in cold water. Many recipes say you can just rub them between your fingers to slide the skins off. Sometimes breaking the outer skin with a fingernail helps the bean pop out. Either way, you'll get cramped fingers, but the result is worth it.

In Italy, where you can get them really, really fresh, as in picked that morning, they're often eaten unpeeled and uncooked (but out of the pods, of course), with fresh pecorino. Heaven. But I rarely find them that young or fresh in North America, even when they're locally grown. Nevertheless, when I'm peeling them, I can't stop from popping the smallest ones straight into my mouth.

 
I cook them, in season, never skin. I use them in a rice dish.

The rice browns and crisps up on the bottom and the favas are on top. Delish.

 
Thanks, Shawn, I will try blanching and peeling, then cooking till done. I've been picking them

smaller up till now, and the skins weren't an issue, but they've gotten away from me.

I've eaten plenty of them raw.

Olney also suggests making a buttery puree with them.

 
love them

My wife and I were just reminiscing yesterday about our 4 year old who last year went into the garden and the fava beans were taller than him and he'd just stand there picking them and eating them. We started growing them a few years ago for the purpose of replenishing the soil based upon the recommendations of a friend.

They are one of those crops good for that and I had no real thought about eating them but they are now one of my favorite things and I eat them raw. They grow like crazy and will keep coming back year after year. I found out more recently that they are also known as "prosperity beans" with an ancient Christian tradition which I believe is associated with the fact that some people survived during famines because the fava beans grew when other crops would not.

One thing that I've learned is that if you pick them young they are much tastier and if they get larger the outer layers become bitter but you can still peel them back and enjoy the goodness inside. Personally I much prefer them raw to cooked. I really like the fact that if I'm out in the hot sun gardening these things grow everywhere and we can just pick a bunch at any time for refreshment. They will popup in places you did not intend when the squirrels, birds etc take them away and then they are about the easiest thing to sprout and grow just about anywhere.

 
But he never told Clarice whether he peeled them or not! Perhaps

he was too busy skinning other things.

 
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