Vegetarian Giro d'Italia | Fusilli Pasta with Fava Beans and Peas

by Megabeth on May 28, 2011 11:55 PM EDT

Did you you that there is a type of pasta that was originally made, before pasta maker machines, by wrapping the pasta around a bicycle spoke? Yup, fusilli avellinesi is that pasta. Think about the condition of your bicycle spokes and let’s all hope that they used brand new ones in the pasta making.

If you check out Anthony Bourdain below, there's a demonstration of how the pasta is made around minute 9:10. (Fair warning, once you hit the 10 minute mark, you'll see some animals getting prepped for a feast. If you're squeamish, then don't watch past the pasta making demonstration.)

Fusilli comes from the word fuso meaning "spindle" in Italian and was first found in Granducato di Toscana around 1550. This stuff is good because the little nooks and crannies can hold a lighter sauce tightly yet it doesn't wither when faced with a heavy sauce. For the recipe below, I use a basic dried fusilli, not one formed on a bike spoke, which is more easily found on any grocery shelf. Whether you call them fava beans, horse beans, English beans, Windsor beans or broad beans, one thing's for sure - these beans have been around for a very very long time and once were the only beans available in Europe.

For your bit of trivia: Apparently, the Greek philosopher Pythagoras (a noted vegetarian) completed despised them. Despite this, he is credited with being the root of pharmacogenetics when back in 510 BC he "noted that hemolytic anemia occurs in some individuals after fava bean consumption. Twenty-five centuries later, this enigma was elucidated by Mager et al. ( 51 ), who demonstrated that deficiency of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase is responsible for this adverse effect of bean ingestion." In other words, some folks may be allergic to fava beans causing an anemic reaction (i.e., tiredness, headache, fever, etc.) Thank you, Critical Care Medicine for that information.

On the brighter side, for those of us that don't have that reaction, this recipe of fusilli con fave e piselli makes a nice rustic meal. I, unfortunately, could not find fresh fava beans, so I resorted to canned - hence the brown hue of my dish. Oh, and don't forget, you'll want to serve these fava beans with a nice bottle of chianti...sorry, couldn't help myself.

Recipe and details on Veggin'...

Tweet Comment 3 comments | 0 recs |

Do you like this story?

Comments

minor correction

An allergic reaction is based on a certain set of biological responses. Favism isn’t caused by an allergic response. (Though as with almost any product, some people may also happen to be allergic to fava beans—but that reaction doesn’t resemble favism).

Rather, in people with certain variants of an enzyme (G6PD) a form of sudden, severe anemia is triggered when their bodies have to deal with certain oxidants introduced in, or produced by enzymes in food or drugs. Broad beans happen to form peroxides and other oxidants. If your body can’t detoxify those peroxides, the red blood cells are hit hard, causing them to break down. There are also a large range of other triggers, depending to some degree on the exact enzyme variant. wikipedia How to explain the sensitivity to pollen? Even that, in theory, is caused by a direct attack on the blood cells by certain enzymes, though admittedly, it’s perplexing to think how such a little exposure can have such an extreme effect, without being an allergic response. However, antihistamines and corticosteroids have essentially no protective effect, helping to demonstrate that the normal allergen response pathway is not a key player in the process.

For an interesting historical paper, see this PDF, which talks about Pythagoras.

Not to break into cycling in a food thread, but one has to wonder whether Ricco will try to claim Favism (not necessarily bean-triggered) to explain his sudden blood crisis.

"luckily for me i was born with an extremely high hemassholecrit level. no pills needed." -ant1

by JFS_PGH on May 29, 2011 1:11 AM EDT reply actions

Cool, thanks for clarification.

Obviously, I only play a doctor on teevee…

by Megabeth on May 29, 2011 10:26 AM EDT up reply actions

The one I'm trying to figure out is carrot tops.

I read enough to try using them in moderation in a couple of dishes whose other details I won’t burden you with (non-veg) and they were really yummy. However (not unlike many other classic edibles) they are not entirely un-toxic, especially if uncooked. Do you have experience with them? It’s the only “comes with the root” green that I’d never thought of using before (though I have to admit I only figured out that radish green were edible last summer, after eating radish pods, and continuing to sample the plant from there).

Actually, i did try one very simple veg version, braising them (plus a couple of chopped ramps) for a while with olive oil, then scrambling them with eggs, pepper, and the rather ammoniac end bits / rinds of an over-ripened camembert. I liked it quite a bit (but then, I think ripe camembert also goes well with, say, a spoon, a fork, essentially any fruit or veg, or a stale bagel).

"luckily for me i was born with an extremely high hemassholecrit level. no pills needed." -ant1

by JFS_PGH on May 29, 2011 7:13 PM EDT up reply actions