Basilicata and Cooking with Grandma

The first step to this meal was shelling the fava beans. It took a really long time, but it was actually kind of relaxing and enjoyable.

Once they were all shelled I had to blanch them until they turned bright green, which they never really did so it was difficult to tell when they were done. As soon as I took them out of the boiling water I dumped them into an ice bath to stop the cooking and make the skins easier to peel off.

The water I blanched them in turned this bright red color, which I thought was really interesting because no part of a fava bean is red.  

Once they were blanched I had to peel the inner skin off of them. At this point my grandma came in to help me and shared a story about the favas. She said that her uncles and dad used to soak fresh favas in salt brine and then snack on them while drinking beer, snacking on the excess favas with me reminded her of this.

Before cooking the artichokes I soaked them in lemon water for about half an hour. I then cooked them with onion in a large pan for almost an hour.

Last time I boiled potatoes I took them out way before they were done, so this time I had grandma help me. As she was slicing them I set a big piece of cheese on the cutting board next to her and she broke off a chunk and said "you should never put Parmigiano in front of an Italian grandmother."

When the artichokes were almost completely cooked I added the favas and potatoes and let them all cook together until the potatoes were a little bit crispy. Meanwhile I started the sauce for the pasta. I simmered oil, salt, sliced garlic, and parsley together, and added a little water from the pasta pot.

I had mixed the halved cherry tomatoes with olive oil, bread crumbs and salt before baking them, and this picture doesn't do these tomatoes justice. When I took them out of the oven they were extremely bright and shiny, and they looked almost like jewels.

I added the tomatoes and some shredded basil to the pasta, and on every ones plate we added a little ricotta. This was one of the best pasta dishes I have made so far, I only wish I had used homemade pasta.