Rigatoni with Fava Beans and Pecorino

Andrew Carmellini: Urban Italian; Day 4; Recipe 4

Last night's dinner almost didn't happen. The recipes over the last couple weeks for our project haven't been as rewarding as we had hoped and it has gotten to the point where it is getting to be a drag to persist. So we had a conversation about stopping and decided to quit effective immediately. Lisa thinks she can do better selecting meals from her voluminous collection of recipes on the basis of whatever we feel like having. It would certainly be more fun. But then I did a little research on fava beans. Neither of us have ever had favas before and they seem like the kind of thing that we'd like. We can get them fresh from local farmers and apparently chefs love to use them too. They are said to be a sign of summer. Etc. So be it, we were intrigued, willing, and Andrew Carmellini has a recipe: Rigatoni with Fava Beans and Pecorino. How was it? It was okay. The pasta part of it was tasty and so were the favas, but they did not come together in an integrative way like his asparagus risotto had. What else... well, the the author is pretty good with flavoring. This recipe was a little spicy, herby, rich, savory and fresh. We are going to continue with the recipe book project, but it is nearly on the chopping block.