Fava bean season is winding down where I live. Time to make one of my favorite salads before the beans vanish. Favas and sheep cheese, sweet and salty, in the soft folds of butter lettuce. A sharp shallot vinaigrette brings it all together. Choose a sheep’s milk cheese you can shave with a plane. If it has peppercorns in it (like Bellwether Farms’ Pepato), so much the better.
Some suitable sheep’s milk cheeses to look for:
Imported:
Secret de Compostelle | France
Brigante (Italy)
Malvarosa (Spain)
Manchego (Spain)
Manouri (Greece)
Ossau-Iraty (France)
Pecorino Toscano (Italy)
Pyrenees Brebis (France)
Ricotta Salata (Italy)
Roncal (Spain)
Secret de Compostelle (France)
Tomme Brulée (France)
Domestic:
Ewereka | Central Coast Creamery
Cave-Aged Marisa from Carr Valley (WI)
Ewereka from Central Coast Creamery (CA)
Friesago from Shepherd’s Way (MN)
Ocooch Mountain from Hidden Springs Creamery (WI)
San Andreas and Pepato from Bellwether Farms (CA)
Verano from Vermont Shepherd (VT)
Butter Lettuce Hearts with Pecorino and Fava Beans
Adapted from The Cheese Course by Janet Fletcher (Chronicle Books).
Vinaigrette:
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon white wine or Champagne vinegar
1 shallot, minced
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Salad:
1 pound fava beans, shelled
2 small heads butter lettuce or Little Gem lettuce
2 tablespoons minced Italian parsley
2 to 3 ounces shaveable sheep cheese, not too soft or hard
Make the vinaigrette: In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, vinegar and shallot. Season with salt and pepper. Let stand for 30 minutes to allow the shallot flavor to mellow. Taste and adjust the balance as needed.
Blanch the fava beans in a large pot of boiling water until tender (remove one, peel and taste to be sure), 2 to 3 minutes. Drain and transfer to ice water to stop the cooking. Drain again. Remove the outer skin, which should slip off easily.
Remove the outer green leaves from each head of butter lettuce until you reach the pale green heart. (Save the outer leaves for sandwiches or other salads.) Wash the hearts, tear the leaves into smaller pieces and spin-dry thoroughly.
In a bowl, toss the butter lettuce and 1 tablespoon of the parsley with all but 2 teaspoons of the dressing. Check for salt and pepper. Divide the leaves among 4 salad plates or arrange on a large platter. With a cheese plane, shave the sheep cheese over the salad. Toss the fava beans with the reserved dressing, then scatter them over the salad. Garnish with the remaining parsley and serve immediately.
Serves 4