Creamy Pasta with Early Summer Garden Veggies and Bacon

This was absolutely divine. I love it when a recipe idea turns out even better than it was in my head.

Feel free to mix and match vegetables. I really liked the snap peas in this, but you could use chopped spinach, early zucchini, or whatever else sounds good. I threw in some chopped leftover grilled chicken as well, but it's definitely optional. If you're vegetarian and want to skip the bacon, you can and it will still be good - but of course it won't be the same. In that case, I suggest adding some grated Parmesan.

1 lb cut pasta such as shells or penne rigate
1 Tbsp butter
2-3 cups snap peas (diced), fava beans, shell peas, or combination
1 bunch scallions (including green part), chopped (about 2 cups)
1 cup heavy cream
6 ounces bacon, cooked and chopped
1 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
Salt and pepper to taste

Cook the pasta in a large pot of salted boiling water. Drain when done, drizzle lightly with oil, and toss to coat.

While the pasta cooks, prepare the sauce: Melt  the butter in a Dutch oven or other large saucepan. Add the scallions and snap peas or other vegetables. Saute over medium high heat for 3-5 minutes, until the scallion greens are wilted. Add the cream, then reduce heat and simmer for another 5 minutes or so. If using snap peas, they should be tender but still retain some crunch. Stir in the bacon and basil and simmer another minute or so. Add salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.

Pour the veggie mixture over the sauce and toss to coat well. The cream will soak into the pasta after a while if you don't serve it immediately, but that's ok. Serve hot or warm.

Serves at about 6.

Pasta Salad with Snap Peas and Herbs

Another cold dish for another hot June day.  If you like, you can beef this up into more of a main dish by adding tuna (3 cans is about right), cooked shredded chicken, or cooked beans.  Feel free to substitute shelled English peas for the snap peas, or even fava beans or edamame.  You can also mix up the herbs for different flavor profiles: try mint, cilantro, or dill here in place of the basil and/or parsley.

1 lb pasta, cooked and cooled
3-4 cups diced snap peas
1 cup chopped fresh basil
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
2 Tbsp minced garlic scapes
1 cup chopped chives
1/2 - 1 cup mayonnaise
Salt and pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and mix well until everything is coated with mayo and ingredients are evenly distributed.  Serve immediately or refrigerate.

Serves about 6.

Pasta with Bacon and Fava Bean Cream Sauce

What to do with the last of the fava beans, the first of the shallots, and the cream leftover from making rhubarb cobbler? Mmmmm. The fresh beans make a nice flavor and texture contrast to the pasta and crispy bacon.

2 cups shelled fava beans
6 slices bacon
1 shallot, minced
1/2 cup cream
3/4 cup finely chopped fresh parsley
3/4 lb uncooked pasta
Salt and pepper

Cook the fava beans in boiling water for about 1 minute, then drain and allow to cool until they can be handled. Pierce the outer skin of each bean with your thumbnail and squeeze the bright green inner bean out into a bowl.

Cook the bacon until moderately crisp, then drain on paper towels. Pour off most of the fat, then briefly saute the shallot in what remains. Scrape the shallot into a medium saucepan and set aside.

Cook the pasta in a pot of salted boiling water, then drain. While the pasta cooks, add the cream, bacon, fava beans, and parsley to the saucepan with the shallot and gently heat. Toss the sauce with the pasta and add salt and pepper to taste.

Serves 3-4.

Barley with Fresh Fava Beans, Chickpeas, and Feta

I am back at last after a week and a half in California. The garden is suddenly brimming, and I swear all the plants grew a foot our two (or in some cases, like the potatoes, maybe more!) while we were gone.

Among the things ready on our return were fava beans, a crop we planted for the first time this year. My first exposure to them was in our CSA box when we lived in California several years ago. Fresh favas are a treat, plump, tender, and flavorful. But if you don't find any, feel free to substitute fresh peas. If you have more mature (larger) beans, taste one to see if the skin is bitter. If it is, dunk them in boiling water for a minute, then split the skin with your thumbnail and pop the beans out.

Here in Franklin County, everything in the recipe except the lemon juice, olive oil, and salt and pepper can be obtained from local growers/producers!

1 cup uncooked barley
2 1/2 cups water
2-3 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 - 1 cup finely chopped garlic scapes
1 1/2 cups fresh shelled fava beans
3 cups cooked chickpeas
1 cup crumbled feta
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1 1/2 cups chopped fresh mint
Salt and pepper to taste

Combine the barley and water in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until tender (about 20 minutes for pearl barley, longer for hull barley).

While the barley cooks, heat a small amount of olive oil in a medium skillet (reserve the rest). Add the scapes and saute over medium heat for 2 minutes or so, then add the fava beans and saute for an additional 1-2 minutes, just until tender.

When the barley is done, combine it in a large bowl with the scapes and fava beans, then mix in the chickpeas, feta, lemon juice, remaining olive oil, mint, and salt and pepper.

This dish can be served hot, room temperature, or chilled as a salad.

Serves about four as a main dish, more as a side dish.