When I asked Sasha Swerdloff what she’d like to contribute to the In Season series, she asked if she could wait to get back to me until after paying a visit to her Sunday local farmer’s market. “I picked up some beautiful favas at the market,” she reported back. “I was thinking about either a tartine with leeks and lemon and herbs or something with a mint sauce.” In the end, she came up with something that brought together the best of both (and is stunningly beautiful to boot).
Fava Bean Tartine with Mint Pesto
by Sasha Swerdloff of Tending the Table
Makes 4 Tartines
For the Fava Beans:
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 leek, white part only, sliced into ¼ inch rounds
1 cup shelled fava beans
½ teaspoon salt
For the Pesto:
¼ cup mint
¼ cup parsley
½ cup toasted hazelnuts
zest and juice from ½ lemon
1 clove garlic
¾ cup olive oil
½ teaspoon salt
To Serve:
4 pieces focaccia bread
sheeps milk yogurt
freshly cracked black pepper
How To
Prepare the Favas:
Heat the oil in a skillet over medium low heat. Add the leeks and sauté until soft. Add the fava beans and salt and continue cooking until the beans are bright green. Remove from the heat and set aside.
Prepare the Pesto:
Combine the mint, parsley, hazelnuts, lemon zest and juice, garlic, olive oil and salt in a food processor and pulse until a coarse puree forms.
Assemble the Tartines:
Toast the bread. Top each slice of toast with some pesto, a generous spoonful of the favas and leeks, a few dollops of yogurt and some black pepper.
Deceptively simple and so beautiful, Sasha. Thank you! And thank you to Sarah Ann Noel for her help coordinating this series.
Sasha grew up on a farm in Oregon where she played in the woods, learned to forage, ate carrots straight from the dirt, collected fresh eggs, and helped in the kitchen with the cooking and canning. Sasha believes that our daily food choices are some of the most impactful choices we make when it comes to ethical and sustainable living. With her blog, Tending the Table, she hopes to educate readers about our food system and inspire them to eat better for themselves and for the planet. She enjoys following the seasons and cooking with whatever nature provides. Her recipes are mostly vegetarian and often vegan, gluten free and refined sugar free and are grounded in her knowledge of Ayurvedic cooking. Sasha lives in Seattle with her husband and two dogs.
P.S. More In Season recipes, like a favorite apricot tart.
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