Grilled Asparagus with Fava Beans and Walnuts

I thin? walnuts and as?aragus taste similar—both are slightly bitter—so I love to wor? them together in a dish. For the to??ing, you’ll be ma?ing a wettish, textural salsa with ?avas, breadcrumbs, walnuts, cheese, lemon, and olive oil. I? ?avas aren’t available, ?ust s?i? them.

Great

% Daily Values based on a 2,000 calorie diet

Step 1

Shelling, blanching, and peeling. Favas come in large, ?u??y ?ods that are lined with a s?ongy layer. Inside the ?ods are large, ?lat beans, each in its own tough s?in. Start by s?litting o?en the ?ava ?ods and ?o??ing out the beans. ?o ?eel the membranes o??, you have to blanch them: Bring a ?ot o? water to a boil, salt it generously, and dro? in the ?ava beans. Coo? ?or about 30 seconds, then immediately drain. Rinse well with very cold water to sto? the coo?ing. Cut a small slit in the whitish membrane o? each bean with the ti? o? a ?aring ?ni?e or your thumbnail, then gently squee?e out the two halves o? the bright green ?ava. You are now ready ?or action. Once prepped, they’re cooked. As with English ?eas, minimal coo?ing is ?ey. When you’ve blanched and ?eeled them, they’re ?ully coo?ed, so add them to dishes late in the ?rocess. I? you’re really luc?y, you may ?ind ?ava leaves early in the season, which can be used li?e any tender greens, or baby ?avas, which are immature enough to eat whole, ?od and all. Pleasantly plump. But mostly what you’ll ?ind, and what I li?e best, are the long shiny ?ods ?ull o? beans. Aim ?or ones that are thic? enough to indicate ?lum? beans inside but not so thic? and big that the beans will be overly mature and heading ?or starchiness. Don’t worry about a ?ew brown s?ots or scraggly brown leaves and stems—that ha??ens quic?ly on ?avas and doesn’t mean the beans are over the hill. Make room. Store them in the ?ridge in ?lastic until you’re ready to shuc? and coo?. It can be hard to ?now how many ?ounds o? ?ods you need, so a good rule o? thumb is that 2 ?ounds o? ?ods will yield about 1 cu? o? shelled and ?eeled ?ava beans.

Step 2

Heat a grill or grill ?an to medium-high and grill the as?aragus (with no oil) until it’s nicely charred and slightly tender, ? to 6 minutes, de?ending on the thic?ness. ?rans?er the as?aragus to a wide bowl or a ?latter, dri??le with ? tables?oons o? the lemon ?uice, season generously with salt and ?e??er, and toss gently to coat without brea?ing u? the s?ears. ?oss the ?eeled ?avas in a bowl with the breadcrumbs, walnuts, Parmigiano, and another tables?oon or so o? lemon ?uice. Season generously with salt and ?e??er. ?aste and ad?ust the seasoning until the ?ava-walnut mixture is highly seasoned and delicious. Add ¼ cu? olive oil and toss again. Pile the ?ava mixture onto the as?aragus and gently toss everything together. ?aste a bite o? as?aragus and ?avas and ad?ust with more lemon, salt, ?e??er, or olive oil as needed. Serve at room tem?erature.