Fresh Baby Fava Beans with Shrimp & Sherry

We had this fabulous meal this weekend. While doing our regular grocery shopping a week ago we ran into a new and incredible cookbook. It’s called Grains, Rice, and Beans by Kevin Graham. He has some amazing recipes in this little book that sound like they would knock your socks off! This book also has a few really yummy vegetarian meals, which were a nice bonus. This was the first recipe we tried and WOW! It was truly an amazing dish, healthy, and looked just beautiful.

We were able to find fresh fava’s at our local Whole Foods and this was our first time dealing with them. We shelled them but didn’t get to the skinning part until after the picture was already taken. Opps. Once shelled they are a brighter green which really made the dish come alive. You can also substitute fresh lima’s but I’d really try to find the fresh fava’s if you can, they were just great!

2 tbsp olive oil
½ large yellow onions, peeled & finely chopped
1 large garlic clove, peeled and minced
1 med bay leaf
1 large tomato, peeled, seeded, and diced
1 cup chicken stock/broth
¼ cup dry sherry or cooking sherry
4 cups fresh, shelled, skinned fava beans
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 cup peeled, fresh raw shrimp
Basmati Rice

Heat the oil in a large, heavy saucepan over med-high heat. Add the onion and garlic and sauté until translucent but not browned, about 2 minutes.

Add the bay leaf and tomato and cook an additional 2 minutes. Add chicken stock and sherry and cook over high heat until reduced by half, about 5 minutes.

Add fava beans, salt, and pepper, and cook for 1 minute over high heat. Stir in the shrimp, return the liquid to a boil, and cook the shrimp until they have turned pink and are heated through, about 1 ½ minutes. Serve immediately over rice.