What’s so great about Risotto?  You can put ANYTHING in it…well almost anything.  All of the spring vegetables are inspiring me to make things green, like fava beans and sweet peas and snow peas.  I use a Giada DeLaurentiis recipe for basic risotto.  These fava beans can be sub’d for the sweet peas you might have on hand now as well.   I am really just posting this as a reminder of things we can do with all of those yummy green items at the market now.

Fava Bean Risotto

1/2 lb of Fresh Fava Beans

1 Cup Risotto

1 Shallot

1/2 Cup White Wine

6 Cups of Vegetable Broth (or chicken)

Olive Oil

1 Handful of fresh flat leaved parsley chopped

Freshly grated Parmesan for garnish

1. Take beans out of their pods; boil a small pot of water; add beans to water and boil for 5 minutes or until they are bright green
2. Remove the beans and rinse with cold water so that you can peel off the outer layer
3. Heat a few tbsp’s of olive oil in a large pan, then add the risotto and cook for 2 minutes.
4. Add the shallots and cook for 2 minutes, then add the wine
5. Once the wine has been absorbed, then add the stock 1 cup at a time, allowing most of it to absorb before adding the next
6. Once the risotto is creamy, then add the lava beans and parsley and cook for another 2 minutes.
7. Plate the risotto and grate parmesan on top (I use my microplane for this so it’s very finely shaved)

Bon Appétit!