The other day I was at home with the day off and got hungry for lunch. I didn’t want to buy lunch because I had bought breakfast so I started rummaging in my fridge to see what I had. The day before I (on a whim) bought some packaged gnocchi so I figured I would use some of that. I also realized that I had some fresh fava beans from the farmers’ market that had to be used up stat. And because I’m me, I had some bacon.
I took to the interwebs to see what I could make and didn’t really find anything so I decided to freestyle. Bacon/pancetta and fava beans is a pretty common combination so I figured I could cook those two together. To bind the fava bean and bacon combination the idea of a cream sauce sounded appealing. Then I’d toss the gnocchi in.
I had never cooked with fava beans so I had to do some googling to figure out how to prepare them. Turns out you not only have to remove them from the big pods but then blanch them, remove the waxy outer pod and then cook again. A lot of work but so worth it for those wonderfully creamy beans.
The dish turned out AMAZING. I thought it would be good, possibly even great but it was really pretty amazing. I added a whole clove of garlic to the cream to infuse the sauce with a subtle garlic flavour and also added a handful of grated parmesan to add to the creaminess. The only downside was that there was a BIT too much of that bacon fat taste, next time I’d pour a bit of it off.
Of course I didn’t measure things as I went along but I’ll post a rough guide on how to prepare this below.
Gnocchi with Fava Beans and Bacon in Cream Sauce
Fava Beans
1/2 package of Gnocchi
Olive oil
2-3 Strips Bacon, chopped
Cream
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
1 clove Garlic, crushed
Salt and Pepper, to taste
1. Prepare the fava beans by peeling them, blanching the beans for 30 seconds, peeling the waxy outer and boiling them for 3-5 minutes or until tender. Drain and set aside.
2. Once the fava beans are prepare boil a pot of salted water and cook gnocchi as per package directions. Drain and set aside.
3. While gnocchi cooks fry bacon in a tiny bit of oil until about 90% cooked. Add fava beans and sautee to combine flavours, about a minute or two.
4. Add enough cream to create a sauce and add garlic and parmesan. Stir and allow to simmer to thicken.
5. Once sauce has thickened add the gnocchi and allow the flavours to combine for about a minute or two.
6. Add salt and pepper to taste and remember to fish out the garlic clove!
Recipe created by Tonya @ What’s On My Plate
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8 Responses to Gnocchi with Fava Beans and Bacon
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{new blog entry} Gnocchi with Fava Beans and Bacon http://goo.gl/fb/QeTNw
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@samanthadjr will want to make this. RT @wonTONfm: RT @WOMPblog: {new blog entry} Gnocchi with Fava Beans and Bacon http://bit.ly/aqACJP
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This looks great! And I have all the ingredients! Since am working from home today am going to make this for lunch!
Thanks for sharing.
I have all the ingredients and will be making this today! Nom nom nom! RT @WOMPblog: Gnocchi with Fava Beans and Bacon http://bit.ly/aqACJP
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Look at the fava bean concoction I’m eating tonight! Thanks @wonTONfm http://bit.ly/by16jZ http://twitpic.com/2c96pb
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Done! http://www.twitpic.com/2c96pb
And delicious!
Beautiful. I think I will try this too.
@_aims Looks and sounds delicious– Gnocchi with Fava Beans and Bacon http://bit.ly/alNX3s
This comment was originally posted on Twitter