Fave e cicorie

The evening before: soak the beans

1. 1Soak the beans

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   Rest 12 h

   Put the 300 g of skinned dried broad beans in a sieve and rinse them under cold running water, picking out any dark beans, bits of skin or grit. Tip them into the bowl, cover them with plenty of cold water, at least three times their volume, and leave them for at least 12 hours, overnight.

   Check The beans have swollen and soaked up much of the water; break one in half: it is pale and moist right through.

   Tip Our guide: if the room is warm, soak them in the fridge.

   Tip Our guide, for safety: people with G6PD deficiency (favism) should not eat broad beans. Two substances found only in broad beans, vicine and convicine, can destroy their red blood cells, with symptoms from a few hours to 1–3 days after eating them.

The beans: about 3 hours

1. 2Drain and rinse

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   Hands-on 2 min

   Drain the beans, throw away the soaking water and rinse them well under cold running water.

2. 3Bring them slowly to the boil and skim

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   Cooking 10–15 minHeat medium

   Put the beans in the heavy-based pot and pour in fresh cold water to cover them by about 2 cm. Salt it lightly, about 5 g per litre. Bring it slowly to the boil over medium heat; as it comes up, a grey foam rises: lift it off with the skimmer.

   Check The water is just boiling and the foam has been skimmed away.

   Tip Our guide: in an earthenware pot, put a flame diffuser under it and bring it up gently, never over a high flame.

3. 4Cook them slowly, topping up

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   Cooking 2 hHeat lowestStart 30 min timer

   Turn the heat to its lowest so the surface barely trembles, put the lid on slightly ajar and leave the beans to cook for 2 hours without stirring. Look at them every half hour: whenever the beans are no longer covered, pour in a little boiling water from the kettle.

   Check After 2 hours the beans are very soft and starting to break up, with a little cloudy water still around them.

   Tip Our guide: add only as much water as you need to keep them just covered; too much water makes a runny purée.

4. 5The last hour: let them fall apart

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   Cooking 1 hHeat lowestStart 10 min timer

   Keep cooking over the lowest heat for about 1 hour more, now stirring every 10 minutes with the wooden spoon and scraping the bottom, and stop adding water. The beans collapse and thicken as the water is taken up.

   Check Stirred with the wooden spoon, the beans break up easily into a coarse purée, and no loose water is left at the bottom of the pot.

   Tip Stir right to the bottom: the thick purée catches easily, and a scorched taste runs through the whole pot.

   Tip Our guide: if the purée is still loose at the end, take the lid off for the last 15 minutes; if it is dry and sticks before the beans have collapsed, add a few spoonfuls of boiling water.

The chicory

Start about 40 minutes before the beans are done, so the chicory is ready as the purée is beaten.

1. 6Put the water on

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   Hands-on 1 min

   Bring about 3 l of water to the boil in the large pot, covered, over high heat, and salt it lightly, about 5 g per litre. It takes 15–20 minutes, while you clean the chicory.

2. 7Clean and wash the chicory

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   Hands-on 10–15 min

   With the knife, cut off the hard pale base that holds each head of the 400 g of chicory together, and pull away any yellow, damaged or tough outer leaves. Wash the leaves in a bowl of cold water, lifting them out so the soil stays behind, and repeat with fresh water two or three times.

   Check The last water stays clear, with no grit at the bottom of the bowl.

   Tip Our guide: wild chicory often carries soil in the base of its leaves; wash it until no grit is left.

3. 8Boil the chicory

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   Cooking 5–10 minHeat highStart 5 min timer

   Drop the chicory into the boiling salted water, push it under with the wooden spoon and stir it now and then. Boil it for 5–10 minutes, uncovered, until the stems are tender.

   Check The tip of a knife goes easily into the thickest stem, and the leaves are tender but still hold their shape.

   Tip Our guide: small, tender leaves are done in about 5 minutes; thicker wild stems need the full 10.

4. 9Drain and press

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   Hands-on 2 min

   Drain the chicory in the colander, press it lightly with the back of the wooden spoon to let out some of the water, and keep it warm in the pot, off the heat, with the lid on.

   Check No water runs from the chicory when you tilt the colander.

Purée and serve

1. 10Beat in the oil

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   Hands-on 3–5 min

   Take the pot of beans off the heat. Beat them hard with the wooden spoon while you pour in the 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a thin stream, a little at a time, working the purée against the side of the pot until all the oil is taken up.

   Check A dense, soft purée that holds its shape on the spoon, glossy with oil, still a little grainy.

   Tip Our guide: if it is too stiff, beat in a spoonful of boiling water; if it is too loose, put it back over the lowest heat for a few minutes, stirring all the time.

2. 11Taste for salt

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   Hands-on 1 min

   Taste the purée and add a little salt if it needs it, beating it in.

   Check Pleasantly salted: the sweetness of the beans comes through, not flat.

3. 12Serve on a bed of chicory

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   Hands-on 2 min

   Lay a bed of chicory in each warm soup plate and spoon the hot purée onto it. Pour about a tablespoon of raw olive oil over each plate, using the 4 tablespoons, and serve at once.

   Check Every plate has its green bed, the purée on top, and the raw oil running over both.

   Tip It is eaten with toasted country bread.

   Tip Leftovers: into the fridge within 2 hours, in shallow covered containers, and eaten within 3 days of cooking. Reheat the purée in a pan with a spoonful of water, stirring, and the chicory in a covered pan, until both are steaming hot all through (at least 75 °C).