SPINACH FAVA RISOTTO WITH SEARED SCALLOPS

Plus the Ranch Onion Parm Chips and the launch of the Cheese Bites

T-minus twelve days until we make our Cheese Bites over at the Eat Happy Kitchen.

This has been a project in development for a few years, and active R&D and packaging design for 18 months.

I hope you are as obsessed with this snack as I’ve become.

On or around June 25th, we will launch our pre-sale. It will last one week, and then we will be shipping the cheese bites.

For the first three days of the pre-sale, anyone who signs up on this list will get an additional 10% off the discounted prices.

Between launching the cheese bites, redesigning our spice packaging, almost being sold out of our spices and NOT yet having the new spice tins in the door, and promoting our huge launch at Kroger, I want to pull my hair out.

Oh, and also crying on daily because I miss my dog. But such is life. There aren’t enough hours in the day, and loss is just a part of life.

If you want to be cheered up, you should make these Ranch Onion Parm Chips. They’re super easy to make and delish. HEre’s the video on IG and on Tik Tok.

I don't need to type out the recipe, just watch the video, and you’ll get it.

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Now let’s make a spring veggie risotto dish.

I AM OBSESSED WITH FAVA BEANS.

I only eat them once a year. But the two recipes in Eat Happy Italian (Fava Beans with Mint and Homemade Ricotta and Fava Bean Soup) are what I make every year as a tradition.

This year I decided to change it up and invent a new recipe using fava beans.

If you’d like to see this new recipe being invented while I’m live podcasting with Vinnie Tortorich, click here.

Fava beans require some prep, and please know that for every pound and a half of giant fava pods, you wind up with about a 1/2 cup of fava beans.

Fava beans are a legume, but they’re lower in starch. They’re not as starchy as peas or lima beans.

If you can’t find favas, then you can substitute peas or even blanched, chopped asparagus.

BUT THIS RISOTTO IS FIRE. And it’s dairy free.

If you have a shellfish allergy, you can sub chicken for the scallops.

Like most recipes that I invent, I make them a hundred times and get sick of them, but right now, I’m in the honeymoon phase with this one.

It’s so fresh and delish, and before I wilt of heat and the spring veggies completely go out of season, I will make this several more times.

Whenever I call for salt and pepper in any recipe at any point, you can use the Salt Dust. And why wouldn’t you. It’s your new Swiss army knife of kitchen seasonings.

Here’s the downloadable, printable PDF of this recipe.

XO

Anna

Spinach Fava Risotto with Seared Scallops, recipe and photo by me, Anna Vocino

SPINACH FAVA RISOTTO WITH SEARED SCALLOPS

(Serves 2-3)

• 1 1/2 pounds fava bean pods (or sub 1/2 cup peas or chopped asparagus)

• 2 tablespoons olive oil

• 2 leeks, white and pale green parts only, chopped

• 2 cups bagged cauliflower “rice” (or 1 head of cauliflower grated on a box grater to make “rice”)

• Salt and pepper (or use Salt Dust)

• 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar

• 1/3 cup chicken broth

• 10 large sea scallops, patted dry

• 2 cups chopped spinach

• 7-8 basil leaves, chopped

Prepare the fava beans: pop the beans out of the pods, blanche the beans for 2 minutes in boiling water, then let them cool 10-15 minutes. Remove the beans from their waxy shells, discarding the waxy shells. Set aside the fava beans.

In a large, flat-bottomed sauté pan, heat the olive oil to medium high heat until shimmering. Cook the leeks 1-2 minutes, until soft, being careful not to burn them. Add the cauliflower rice and toss with the leaks. Season well with salt and pepper (or use the Salt Dust). Let the cauliflower cook 7-8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the cauliflower is soft and starting to sear. Add in the white wine vinegar and stir it while it sizzles. Stir in the chicken broth 1-2 minutes. Season again with salt and pepper (or Salt Dust).

Season the scallops with salt and pepper, and set aside.

Add the spinach and chopped basil leaves to the cauliflower rice, and toss until wilted. Season once more with salt and pepper and push the cauliflower rice to the edge of the pan.

Pat the scallops dry once more, then sear them in the pan, 1-2 minutes per side. Plate the cauliflower rice and scallops, dividing the fava beans evenly over each serving.