Favas Estufadas de Festa
A Festa: Summer Feasts & The Holy Ghost Tradition
Sunday afternoon at the Holy Ghost hall, folding tables groaning, summer smells like onions, garlic, and smoked paprika frying in olive oil for the feasts. Forget hours shelling fresh beans; practical cooks learned a secret when they came to America: frozen, double-peeled supermarket favas. Simmered in a deeply savory, slightly spicy sausage cebolada packed with sliced linguiça, these beans deliver the exact taste of the festival on a busy weeknight. Grab a warm papo seco and drag it through the orange oil at the bottom of the bowl.
Before you start
Thaw the fava beans briefly under warm running water.
Frozen double-peeled fava beans cook very quickly. Thawing them prevents the temperature of your braising liquid from dropping drastically when they are added to the pot.
Ingredients
- extra-virgin olive oil3 tbsp
- linguiça or chouriço1/2 lb
- yellow onions2 med
- garlic4 large clove
- tomato paste2 tbsp
- bay leaf1 med
- red bell pepper1/4 cup
- crushed red pepper flakes1/2 tsp
- white wine vinegar1 tsp
- kosher salt1/2 tsp
- frozen double-peeled fava beans1 lb
- pale lager beer1/2 cup
- low-sodium chicken broth1/2 cup
- sweet paprika1/2 tsp
- ground cinnamon1/8 tsp
- fresh flat-leaf parsley1/4 cup
Method
- 01
Heat the olive oil in a wide pot over medium heat and sauté the linguiça until it releases its bright orange, paprika-infused oil.
Cook for 4 to 5 minutes until browned on the edges. Use a slotted spoon to remove the sausage to a paper towel-lined plate, leaving all that glorious rendered fat in the pan.
- 02
Add the sliced onions to the hot sausage fat and cook until they melt down into a sweet, jammy consistency.
Don't rush this. It takes 8 to 10 minutes over medium heat for the onions to deeply soften and caramelize, forming the crucial cebolada base of your sauce.
- 03
Stir in the minced garlic, bay leaf, tomato paste, bell pepper, pepper flakes, vinegar, and salt.
Cook for 2 minutes until the tomato paste darkens slightly and the garlic becomes incredibly fragrant.
- 04
Pour in the beer to deglaze the pan, scraping up any browned bits stuck to the bottom.
Let the liquid bubble and reduce by half, then stir in the chicken broth, sweet paprika, and the tiny pinch of cinnamon.
- 05
Return the linguiça to the pan and fold in the thawed fava beans.
Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and let it simmer together for 10 to 12 minutes. You want the beans to be tender and coated in a rich, clingy sauce. If it looks dry, add a splash of water.
- 06
Remove from the heat, discard the bay leaf, and fold in the fresh parsley right before serving.
Taste for seasoning, as you may need more salt depending on the saltiness of your sausage. Serve warm or at room temperature in small bowls with toothpicks and crusty bread to sop up the incredible, spicy-sweet gravy.
Notes
Upgrade to authentic Azorean pepper paste if you can find it.
The bell pepper, pepper flakes, vinegar, and salt create a 'mock malagueta' hack. If you have access to real Portuguese massa de malagueta, omit those four ingredients and simply stir in 1 to 2 tablespoons of the authentic paste with the garlic and tomato paste.