VIGNAROLA This seasonal gem from Lucky Peach’s POWER VEGETABLES! is the thing I crave every time I pass peas-in-the-pod and fresh fava beans in the produce aisle. Each week, when they’re still there, I think “Yesss! I’ve got another chance to eat Vignarola before the spring vegetables disappear again!” I haven’t seen the baby artichokes yet so have been using canned artichoke hearts to good effect.
I leave out the guanciale thus making it vegan.
It’s amazingly delicious plain but I want to stretch it out with some bread or pasta (so I can eat it more times) ... It’s right now’s perfect food, methinks.
Thank you, Peter Meehan, Gabriele Stabile and the rest of LP for the great idea and inspiration!
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I know Vignarola is Spring’s perfect food. But I can’t wait that long to eat it again so I’ve made some alterations to the recipe so I can get my fix even though fresh fava beans and peas-in-the-pod are in the distant-seeming past and future.
Keep on with the canned artichoke hearts. Use frozen peas instead of fresh-out of-their-pods and shelled, frozen edamame instead of fresh fava beans. Did I mention that these alterations also take the prep time down to 15-20 minutes?
Perhaps the springtime me would scoff at the falltime Vignarola. But I’ll take what Vignarola I can get over no Vignarola at all.
