Simple spring eating at it’s best: tender fava beans and crunchy shaved fennel get all dressed up with some torn burrata and a luscious pistachio mint pesto. Fava beans are not in season for much longer, so its worth it to go through the two-step peeling process. Enjoy them while they last!
Recipe Notes
- Favas have a fuzzy outer pod in addition to a white rind that encapsulates the inner bean. Both these layers need to be removed to enjoy this dish. It takes a little time, but it goes relatively quickly once you get the hang of it.
Burrata, fava, and fennel salad with mint pistachio pesto
Course: SaucesDifficulty: Easy3-4
servingsSimple spring eating at it’s best: tender fava beans and crunchy shaved fennel get all dressed up with some torn burrata and a luscious pistachio mint pesto. Fava beans are not in season for much longer, so its worth it to go through the two-step peeling process. Enjoy them while they last!
Ingredients
- For the mint pistachio pesto
1 cup picked mint leaves
1/4 cup pistachios, roasted
1 small clove garlic
⅓ cup olive oil
¼ cup freshly grated parmigiano
Zest and juice of ½ lemon
Salt and pepper to taste
- For the salad
2.5 cups shelled fava beans (about 2 pounds in their pods)
1 small head fennel, very thinly sliced (a mandolin is your friend here)
1 lemon
Olive oil
8 oz burrata
Chili flakes
Salt and pepper to taste
Directions
- For the mint pistachio pesto
- Combine all the ingredients in a small food processor and pulse until a paste forms. Taste and add salt and pepper as needed. Adjust any other seasonings to your liking.
- For the fava and fennel salad
- Bring a large pot of water to boil and salt it heavily. Add the fava beans to the pot and cook until bright green and tender (they will float), about 3-5 minutes. While the beans cook, prepare an ice bath. When the fava beans are ready, drain and immediately place in the ice bath to cool.
- Drain the fava beans and carefully remove the outer white peel of each bean, revealing the bright green inner bean. You can usually poke a finger nail into the peel and then pop out out the bean. Season the shelled beans with salt and set aside until ready to use.
- Combine the fava beans and shaved fennel in a bowl and season with salt and pepper to taste. Add in a generous glug (or two) of olive oil and the juice of 1 lemon. Toss to combine, then taste to adjust seasoning.
- Spread the salad out onto a serving platter. Tear the burrata and scatter the pieces around the plate. Top with the pesto (you may not need all of it) and a sprinkle of chili flakes.
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