Similar to those moments when I spot a beautiful dessert or pastry at a pastane, but when I eat it, the dessert is dry, crumbly, too sweet and just plain not good.
At first, I was ecstatic to try the taze bakla I bought at the Saturday pazar in Besiktas. These fuzzy green bean-like pods were definitely fresh and a sign of spring! I'm awfully tired of seeing all the root vegetables at the pazar in Istanbul.
Each pod contained 4 or 5 miniscule fava beans. So I only yielded 60 grams (about half a cup) out of the half kilo I purchased.
Well, at least I had a delicious plan for these prized fava beans.
My lettuce vendor had thrown in a bunch of spring garlic (yeni sarimsak (new garlic) as he referred to it) that smelled sweet and sharp. This was a real treat as spring garlic is only around for a few weeks. (See: last year's Spring Garlic Soup recipe.)
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| Fava beans and a bunch of spring garlic, which could be mistaken for scallions. |
So the fresh fava beans and spring garlic make for a simple, spring-flavored pasta. For once, my recipe only contains a handful of ingredients and is just a bit of this and that.
I also added some leftover Italian mortadella from our Bologna trip that was begging to be used. Hey, my love of pork won me over.
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| Who could resist a bite of this garlicky pasta with loads of Parmesan cheese, mortadella and basil? |
Afiyet Olsun!
Fava Bean, Spring Garlic Pasta (Bakla ve Makarna)
Ingredients:
1-2 T. olive oil
300 g. (10.5 oz.) package of fresh pasta like fettuccine
Handful taze bakla (fresh fava beans)
1 bunch spring garlic, chopped
To taste salt and pepper
As needed Parmesan cheese, freshly grated
Handful fresh basil, julienned
Optional: handful of diced mortadella or some pancetta
In a large pot, bring the water to a boil. Drop in the fresh pasta and fava beans. Cook until al dente - about 3 minutes. Strain immediately, but save some of the pasta water.
Meanwhile, in a medium skillet, heat the olive oil. Saut� the spring garlic and pork, if using, for a few minutes.
Then, in the large pot used for the pasta, combine the spring garlic, pork, pasta, fava beans and some of the pasta water. Throw in a knob of butter for some added richness. Season with salt and pepper. Stir and taste again. Add more pasta water as needed to make a light sauce.
Garnish the pasta with lots of freshly grated Parmesan cheese and basil. (I couldn't resist trying a giant forkful of the pasta right out of the pot!)