Fava beans risotto

Fava beans risotto is one of the most typical Italian fava beans recipes, very common during fava bean season, that is springtime. Even if you are not in the proper season, the frozen ingredient will guarantee a definitely satisfactory result!

If you are not in the proper season or you don’t have frozen fava beans… you can PIN IT for later 😉

Among all the legumes, fava beans not only have the lowest calories, but are also amazing from a nutritional point of view. Even if this blog is more about pleasure and taste (need to admit it… ), knowing that you are combining taste with health is always an ever greater source of pleasure.

Fava beans risotto can be even a veggie recipe if you don’t add the fried ham on top, even if I recommend enjoying the contrast between the creamy rice and the crispy ham… but coming from the “pork kingdom” (Bologna and close cities) I am clearly partisan.

In this recipe I have used frozen fava beans, but if you are luckier than me and find the fresh ones, even better. Peeling the fava beans is a two-step activity since first, you need to remove them from the long pod and then remove their skin by blanching them in water. It is not the shortest task, but the effort will be rewarded… fava beans are simply delicious!

My last tip before we start cooking this fava beans risotto is something I’ve found out only a few years ago, but that has really changed the way I cook many of my recipes: my dutch oven! It’s incredible how versatile is this tool, which I use to bake my crusty bread, cook my risotto, slowly cook any roasted meat, or even my ribollita. If you want to buy a good one, while helping this blog, you can follow this link, at no additional cost for you! 🙂

As usual, the mantecatura of the risotto is done with butter and Parmigiano Reggiano.

Print Recipe

5 from 1 vote

Fava beans risotto

Springtime is the perfect season for this wonderful risotto, but thanks to frozen fava beans you can have it all year long. Veggie and creamy, you can add some crispy ham on top to make it really delicious and impress your friends!

Prep Time20 minutes mins

Cook Time30 minutes mins

Total Time50 minutes mins

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Italian

Keyword: creamy, fava bean, healthy, spring

Servings: 4 people

Calories: 250kcal

Author: Roberto

Cost: $2

Equipment

• a pan to cook the rice
• a small pan to cook the fava bean
• a small pan to fry the ham
• a mixer
• a spoon

Ingredients

• 320 gr Carnaroli rice https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnaroli
• 250 gr fava beans weight is for peeled ingredient (fresh or frozen)
• 80 gr ham in thin slices
• 1 lt vegetable broth
• 1/2 white onion
• 1/3 glass white wine
• 20 gr butter
• 20 gr grated Parmigiano Reggiano
• q.s. extra virgin olive oil
• q.s. salt
• q.s. black pepper

Instructions

• Finely chop the onion
  
• In a pan, add extra virgin olive oil and brown the onion.
  
• When the onion is brown, add the rice and toast it for a couple of minutes.
  
• Blend the toasted rice with the white wine. I suggest you use the one you will drink during the meal.
  
• When the wine is evaporated, add part of the vegetable broth. Heat is medium-low.
  
• While the rice is slowly cooking, start cooking the fava beans in a small pan. If the cooking time is 10 minutes, just cook them for 5 minutes, since they will finish coooking mixed with the rice.
  
• After 5 minutes, take half of the fava beans and make a cream adding some water and using a mixer.
  
• Add the remaining fava beans to the rice and go on cooking them, slowly adding the broth.
  
• In the meanwhile, use a small pan and some butter to fry the ham cut into small stripes.
  
• Add the fava bean cream and keep on cooking, gently mixing from time to time. Always add the broth in small amounts, so you can control the rice cooking.
  
• Last minutes of cooking for the rice.
  
• When it's almost done (at this point broth should be absorbed), turn off the heat, add the butter in this slices and the grated Parmigiano Reggiano. Mix with a spoon and cover the pan. This phase is called "mantecatura" in Italian.
  
• After 5 minutes the rice is creamy and ready. You can serve it adding some fried ham on top… and buon appetito!
  

I hope you will love this recipe as much as my wife does. If you are into risotto, on this blog you can find also my pumpkin risotto and a tasty sausage and barbera risotto. Enjoy!

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Buon appetito!