Julia's Fava Bean Goat Cheese Pizza (photo above right)

1 empty Vicolo pizza crust from freezer; then a layer of thinly sliced parmesan (done with potato peeler); then a thick layer of peeled favas; then hard-to-see-here paper-thin sliced garlic cloves (I did this with a mandolin); then a layer of fresh goat cheese. then baked. dinner's done! and the favas are used and out of the fridge: they take up space!
Grilled Fava Beans as told to Andy by Bruce Hill of Bix in San Francisco

The easiest way to prepare favas is to grill them. The heat of the coals will pop the pods open and split the hulls that wrap each bean. Remove the beans with your fingers and they're ready. If there's a bit of char on your fingers from plucking out the beans from the grilled pods, it only helps the flavor.

Julia's Desperation Favas

This works best with freshly picked young fava beans.

1. Have children, guests, or domestic partners remove fava beans from pods.

2. After taking the beans out of the pod but BEFORE removing the skin, saute the beans with garlic, olive oil and salt. The skins come half off and the whole thing can be eaten hot over rice, noodles, as a side dish or as a salad if chilled. Enjoy!

Our Favorite Fava Beans

from Julia and Andy

These two recipes are similar to the desperation favas, above, but these can also be used with larger fava beans, or ones that have already been stored a few days since harvest.

2 pound favas, taken out of the pods
1-4 cloves of garlic, chopped AND/OR:
1/2 cup onions, chopped
olive oil

S & P The simplest version: sauté the favas with the garlic in the heated oil. the shells will come off in the pan, they are a lighter green, and the whole thing can be eaten like that. (Season with S & P) Version #2: Put the light green favas (that have been removed from the pod) into boiling water for 1-2 minutes. Remove immediately, rinse in cold water. Take the outer shell off each fava bean, so that you have just the bright emerald green bean. Then cook just the inner brighter green beans in the heated oil with the garlic for 2-3 minutes, then eat. We like both versions, and which one we do depends on if we have guests or willing children to help in the extra step of Version #2.

Fava Bean/Couscous Salad (you can adapt the vegetables to whatever you have on hand....)

-1 cup raw couscous (Trader Joe's has whole wheat...) Cooked according to package intructions. (This is easy! Bring one cup water with a bit of butter or oil and a pinch of salt to a boil. Turn off heat and stir in 1 cup raw couscous and stir up well. Put a lid on and set the timer for 5 minutes. Fluff couscous and you're ready to go.)
-1 small bowl or more shelled, blanched favas (the bright green ones)
-3 green onions, chopped
-large handful orach leaves, thinly sliced
-Green Garlic Dressing

Mix all ingredients above, making sure you don't put in too much dressing. Eat!

Green Garlic Dressing

1-3 stalks roughly chopped green garlic, tough end leaves discarded
1/3 cup rice vinegar
1 Tablespoon honey
1/3 cup olive oil
S & P

Whirl all in a blender. Can be used as a salad dressing or marinade.

Fava and Fresh ricotta Bruschetta

Recipe from Lou Bustamonte

All I did was cook the favas in low heat in a tiny bit of water, peeled them, and sprinkled them on top of some olive oil and garlic brushed toasted Acme bread that had a nice helping of farm fresh ricotta. I added a little salt and pepper, and ate. Amazing.

Roman-Style Raw Fava Beans, Scamorza(or Smoked Mozzarella), and Fresh Onion

Antipasto di Fave e Cipolla Fresca

from Verdura by Vivana La Place

A springtime antipasto of raw fava beans and new onions. Eating tender fava beans is a special treat. Eat them unpeeled if you enjoy the refreshing bitter edge of the peel, or peel them first for a sweeter flavor. Serve this dish with crusty breadsticks, a sturdy country loaf, or black pepper taralli, a type of pretzel found in Italian specialty markets, and company with a pitcher of cool dry wine.

2 pounds fava beans, unshelled weight
a few small lettuce leaves
3 scallions or 1 small fresh onion, thinly sliced
1 pound scamorza cheese, sliced (substitute smoked mozzarella)
Basket of bread sticks, black pepper taralli, or bread

Shell the favas and mound in the center of a platter. Surround with the lettuce leaves and scatter the onions over the top. Arrange slices of the cheese around the edge of the platter. Serve with the bread.

Umbrian Fava Bean Stew (Scafata)

This recipe is about as simple as spring cooking gets. It's adapted from Antonella Santolini's La Cucina Delle Regioni D'Italia: Umbria The name comes from the Umbrian word for the hull of the beans.

2 Tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup shelled fava beans
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup chopped fennel
1 1/2 cups chopped chard leaves
1 1/2 cups chopped, peeled tomatoes
salt, pepper

Cook oil, beans, onion, fennel, carrot and chard over low heat in medium saucepan. When beans are quite tender, after about 45 minutes, add tomatoes and cook for another 25 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.