Faves a la catalana is a classic Catalan spring dish. Fresh broad beans (faves) appear in markets in March-May; the dish combines them with botifarra (Catalan pork sausage) and mint. The use of mint with savory beans is characteristically Catalan — unusual in other Spanish cuisines.
Tender broad beans in a savory, reduced sauce with chunks of sausage and bacon. The beans are creamy and slightly sweet; the sausage is rich and peppery; the mint adds an unexpected freshness. Eaten with bread to mop up the sauce.
Fresh broad beans' starches thicken the braising liquid naturally. The botifarra's fat renders into the beans, enriching them. Mint's menthol provides a cooling aromatic counterpoint that is uniquely Catalan — the herb is added at the very end to preserve its volatile oils.
Variations
Some add artichokes or peas; dried beans are used when fresh are unavailable; some use black botifarra.
On the Palate
Where Faves a la Catalana sits in the Spanish flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 4How it's made
6 steps · 45 min active + 15 min waiting
- 15 min
Shell fresh broad beans.
- 210 min
Sauté diced botifarra and bacon in olive oil until browned.
Watch outBrown the botifarra and bacon hard until the edges crisp and the fat renders — that rendered fat is what enriches the beans; pale sausage leaves the dish thin.
- 35 min
Add chopped onion; cook until soft.
- 45 min
Add broad beans and a little stock.
- 520 min
Simmer 20 min until beans are tender.
- 61 min
Stir in chopped mint just before serving.
Watch outStir the mint in right at the end, off the heat — its cooling aroma is fleeting, and even a minute of cooking boils it flat.
