Fava Beans, Finferli - Chanterelle mushrooms - and eggs: an irreplaceable Spring trio!

When the feast of St. Anthony of Padua approaches, on June 13th, spring is coming to an end in Italy. The sky is clear, then suddenly cloudy and a rapid thunderstorm passes by, immediately leaving room for the return of a splendid and warm sun. 

The abundant water and sun of this season make the seedlings grow, the fragrant buds of ancient roses with a thousand petals color our gardens and the cherries on the trees redden. In the wheat fields, red poppies are blooming and the ethereal shades of the meadow goat's-beard dance in the wind.

This is the time of year when the Fava beans, sown on the edge of the garden in late autumn together with garlic and peas, lean towards the ground heavy with pods. After the cold unproductive winter, hens scratch around outside the henhouse, each giving their own daily egg,and in the woods, which in Cercemaggiore extend wide and silent in the vast spaces around the village, rain and heat fertilize the dry leaves that fell last autumn. Under these leaves, in places that always remain the same over the years, the yellow-orange heads of “Gallucci” mushrooms start to peak.

Gallucci - little roosters - is another name of the Chanterelle mushrooms, perhaps because they are so colored among the pale leaves that they resemble lively cockerels.

 

This simple recipe takes advantage of the season’s products and I love to cook it for my family. Here is what you will need:

In a pan, brown the chopped onion and add the Fava beans with a little water. Add salt and finish cooking without letting the beans dry completely. 

Meanwhile, clean and cut the mushrooms and in a pan over high heat cook them until they lose their natural water. 

Once the broad beans are cooked, add the mushrooms, cook together for a few minutes and add the beaten eggs with plenty of Parmesan cheese. Turn off the heat and cover the pan, leaving the eggs to steam-cook for a couple of minutes. 

The beans are ready to enjoy!


Our grandparents ate the Fava Beans tender, freshly picked, sharing them with friends together with bread and cheese. Or they nibbled them all together around the great bonfire of San Antonio, still lit today on the evening of June 12th. 

It didn't take much a long time ago, to put together broad beans, Gallucci mushrooms, eggs... And here a tasty, nutritious, long-lasting dish came out: even today in  Cercemaggiore we like to taste the ancient flavor of this simple dish full of memories!

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