Spanish Fava Beans

Vacation recreation coming at ya with these Spanish Fava Beans.

I’m feeling the cozy season and also starting to reflect on the year (already, what?!) and dreaming a little bit about past vacations (not too hard because fall is pretty much my favorite to be at home).

Remember when I went to Mallorca earlier this year? It was what one would call a perfect vacation and some of that was due to the plethora of delicious food we ate that week. Did we have a bad meal? Just the one and it was completely due to poor planning. Our bad, and rookie mistake.

Spanish food is some of the simplest to make and a cuisine I often forget to roll into my normal go-tos. That might change now with this fava bean recipe, a recreation of THE absolute best thing we ate on our trip.

spanish fava beans

My friend found this restaurant randomly through Google and the rave reviews has us convinced that we needed to go. It’s easy to miss – tucked down a side street in downtown Palma, marked only by the small line of people queueing outside. El Pilon is the coziest little hideaway, a charming space filled with couples and larger parties alike, with fast-talking waiters and free-flowing sangria. We were instantly charmed.

Note- if you go, make a reservation.

Perusing the menu it was hard to choose, and while we picked a few dishes that had become standard orders at almost every meal (olives, charred shishitos, calamari), we branched out with the fava beans.

Beans? Goat cheese? What’s not to like?

fava beans and goat cheese

We liked it all and it was the one dish that both of us still dream about today. Obviously, I had to figure out how to make it at home. I actually had it down soon after we got home, but by then the weather was warming and none among us was in the mood for a bean dish, so I’ve tucked away until now.

True to Spanish cuisine, we’re working with simple and accessible ingredients. I did have to make more than one stop to find these fava beans, but if you have a more international/Middle Eastern grocer by you, you’ll have no problem finding all sorts of varietals.

It’s worth the extra stop at the store. Enjoy!

spanish style fava beans

Spanish Fava Beans

October 14, 2022

Servings: 4

Prep: 10 min

Cook: 20 min

Total: 30 min

Difficulty: Easy

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Spanish fava beans with goat cheese is a delicious stew mixture topped with goat cheese, walnuts and honey.

By: Chrissy

Ingredients

2 TB olive oil
2 shallots, minced
6 cloves garlic, chopped
3 (14 oz) cans small brown fava beans, rinsed
1/2 lemon, juiced
1 tsp salt
2 tsp smoked hot paprika
3/4 cup sherry
1/2 cup parsley, chopped
4 ounces goat cheese
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
3 TB or more, honey to drizzle

Directions

Step 1 In a large saucepan over medium heat, add the olive oil, shallots and garlic. Cook until soft.
Step 2 Add the sherry to delgaze the pan.
Step 3 Add the beans, salt and paprika and reduce until the liquid is almost all gone. Add in the lemon juice and parsley and give it a good stir. Add the goat cheese on top, along with the walnuts and a drizzle of honey.