Vignarola: Roman Spring Vegetable Stew

On a recent trip to Italy, I ate VIGNAROLA.     

I had never heard of this spring vegetable dish before, but I was hooked.

I had it in Abruzzo as well as Rome, and it is very popular in osterias, family owned restaurants serving regional cuisine.

Artichokes and fava beans at almost every meal, since they were bursting and showy at the markets.
Italians eat what is in season.

So what exactly is vignarola?  

It is a Roman vegetable stew, made with carciofi, favas and spring peas.   

Most use spring onions and wilted lettuce as well.   Always pork (guanciale), and a little broth.

It is a loooooong process, shelling peas, peeling fava beans, prepping and cooking artichokes......but I did it, like a good Italian mama.

It took me about 5 hours to make this delicious stew, using pancetta, because I couldn't find guanciale (pork jowl).

Was it worth it? 

Si.    We loved it.   I left it on the counter and there was enough for a few meals.

I wanted it again.

The second time, I used CANNED fava beans (which were impossible to find, and I could not find frozen either!).

I used jarred artichokes from Italy and instead of shelling peas, I used frozen!   HEATHEN!

It came out delicious, even with the easy method, and with the leftovers, I made a carbonara for pasta and topped with the vingarola.

Ok.  I'm done.

I will give you the ingredients, but you can decide if you want to shell peas, peel and cook fresh artichokes and peel those favas (a daunting task).

Vignarola:  (easy method)

Artichokes

Fava Beans

Peas

Pancetta (guanciale if you can find it)

Spring Onions

Gem Lettuce

Olive oil, salt & pepper

Fresh mint  & Parmigiano cheese for garnish

To keep it simple (and I am not doing a whole post on how to prepare the favas, artichokes and English peas........), add the diced pancetta to a large skillet with olive oil and saute a minute or two.

Add in the rest of the ingredients (the lettuce last), and saute a few minutes.    Season liberally with salt & pepper.

Add in about 1/4 cup of stock to make it saucy and cook 1 more minute.

Garnish with the fresh mint and serve with grated Parmigiano Reggiano.

There you have it!