Fettuccine with Fava Beans and Basil

Deceptively complex.

Ingredients

• 3c dry fava beans, soaked, or 3c fresh, shelled*
  
• 1lb fettuccine
  
• 2c basil, chopped
  
• 2 cloves garlic
  
• salt
  
• pepper
  
• parmesan
  
• juice of 1/2 a lemon
  

After you soak the dry beans, cook them until they're tender. We did this with the shells on. Afterward, fish out the beans and run under some cold water. Then shell them all. Ugh. Take 2/3 of the beans and pulse in a kitchenaid with 1c basil, some salt, the garlic, and enough olive oil to make it work. Don't puree the stuff, just chop until it's pretty small. Meanwhile, cook the pasta in the same water that you used to cook the fava beans. When that's done, reserve a cup of water and drain the pasta. Now you assemble. In the pot, combine the whole favas, the blended favas, and some of the pasta/fava cooking water. Add the lemon juice and parmesan and stir together. Then add the pasta and toss together.

Thoughts: VERY filling. One problem is that after we shelled and blended the beans, we discovered that they were still just too toothsome, so we had to return them to a pot and add water and cook until the favas were done. Meh. Otherwise, this is really delicious. Next time... we'll probably cook the beans for longer initially. Or maybe use fresh beans if we have them. I don't know. Quite good, though.

Disaster Index: 1/10