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Avocado and Fava Bean Mash Crostini

What a wonderful addition to any soup or salad. Don't forget to serve on a slice of toasted crostini, with a dash of EVOO. Or, feel free to assemble as directed in the original recipe from Yotam Ottolenghi is his Simple Cookbook.

Course Appetizer
Cuisine Greek/California
Keyword appetizer, avocado, crostini, fava beans
Servings 4

Ingredients

  • 9 oz. fava beans, still in their shells but not in their pods, fresh or frozen.
  • 1 large avocado, peeled and roughly chopped, (1¼ cups)
  • 1 lemon, finely shaved to get one long strip of peel, then juice to get 1 ½ tablespoons.
  • 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • salt to taste
  • 2 green onions, thinly sliced

Instructions

  1. Fill a small saucepan with salted water and bring to a boil. Blanch the beans for 2 minutes, then drain, refresh, and drain again. Peel and discard the skins of the bean, then set aside ⅓ cup for the topping. Put the rest of the beans in a food processor with the avocado, lemon juice, olive oil, and ¼ teaspoon of salt and process until almost smooth.

  2. Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a small frying pan over medium-high heat, and gently fry the green onions and lemon strip for 1 minute. Remove from the heat and stir in the reserved fava beans and a pinch of salt.

  3. Spread the avocado and fava mash onto a plate creating a natural rim and spoon the green onion mix into the middle just before serving. The lemon strip does nor normally get eaten, but it looks good as a garnish.

  4. For crostini, slice and toast a baguette, and spread the fava mixture on the bread. Drizzle with olive oil and serve.