How to Freeze Fresh Fava Beans and Enjoy them Year Round

HOW TO FREEZE FRESH FAVA BEANS AND ENJOY THEM YEAR ROUND

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With the arrival of spring, fresh bean season also gets into full swing! Green, nutritious and excellent to add to your spring salads, fresh fava beans, or broad beans, are the welcome ingredient that signals the start of longer, warmer days.

Low in calories - each 100 grams of fava beans contain about 70 calories - rich in vitamin C, as well as a good source of magnesium, potassium, phosphorus, calcium, broad beans are also the nutritious addition to your recipe repertoire.

But, like many good things in life, fava bean season is short-lived, with their peak harvest being between April and May. However, you can easily benefit from the beans all year round! Fine Dining Lovers explain how to easily freeze the fresh beans so you can enjoy them as often as you like, whenever you like.

How to Freeze Fresh Fava Beans

There are two ways to freeze fresh fava beans: raw or blanched.

Freezing fresh Broad Beans

In the first case, simply shell the fresh beans and go ahead with freezing:

1. Start by opening the pod, and collecting all the beans in a large bowl. Be sure to remove the husk and the outer skin when the beans are particularly large and the skin tough.

2. After removing the fava beans, wash them under running fresh water.

3. Dry the beans carefully and place them into freezer bags, seal and place in freezer.

How to Freeze Fava Beans after blanching

Blanching the beans before freezing is also a popular option as it allows you to retain all the nutrients and properties of the beans during storage.

Simply blanch the beans for a few minutes - 3/4 at most - wait for them to cool and then proceed with freezing.

Frozen fresh beans can be stored in the freezer for 6-8 months.

How to store fresh beans in the freezer

There's also another technique to freeze fresh fava beans - cryo-blanching. A technique that makes it possible to keep all the properties of the vegetables intact and ensure that - once frozen - the vibrant colour is retained. This technique is particularly good for all small vegetables like green beans, peas, asparagus and spinach leaves.

Have you defrosted fresh beans and not sure how to cook them?

Whether fava beans are used to give a touch of spring to your quinoa or eaten with the classic of the classics combined with a generous dose of finocchiona, the beans are the perfect spring ingredient.

Try some Fava beans recipes that say spring has arrived ...

Try making a creamy Fava Bean Salad with goat's cheese, a spring fava bean soup or some simple fava bean crositini as the perfect light appetisers.


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