This iconic Roman dish called la vignarola is a ‘medley’ of spring vegetables made from spring onions, fava beans, artichokes, peas and tender lettuce, flavored in typically Roman style with a bit of guanciale. If there’s one Roman dish that says “spring on a plate”, this is it.
Admittedly, prepping the vegetables, especially the artichokes and fava beans, requires some patience. But from there the recipe is a simple one. You start with sautéing the guanciale, then the onion, then the other vegetables in order according to the time it takes to cook them: first the artichokes, then the fava beans, then the peas and finally, just at the last moment, the lettuce. They braise until tender in a quick vegetarian broth made the vegetable trimmings.
La vignarola has a very short ‘season’ of only a few weeks while all the requisite vegetables are simultaneously in season. In Italy this typically falls in April and May, when le primizie—those incredibly tender early spring vegetables—appear in the markets. Where I live at the moment, however, fava beans are only starting to appear now, in mid-June. Well, better late than never. The anticipation can be painful, but when those favas finally do appear, I jump!
Vignarola is typically served as an antipasto, but it would make a perfectly delightful light second course or, even, especially if you omit the guanciale, as a side dish. It also makes a delicious dressing for pasta.
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Fusilli primavera
I had always thought of “Pasta Primavera” as a modern American invention, probably a product of the rage for “northern Italian” food in the 1970s and 1980s. So imagine my surprise, as I was leafing through my trusty copy of the classic La cucina napoletana, when I found a entry for fusilli primavera, described as the “personal recipe” of a well known chef named Gerardo Modugno.
This version of Pasta Primavera comes out of the tradition of French-inspired chefs that labored in the kitchens of the 18th and 19th century Neapolitan nobility, a class of chefs called the monzù. Modugno is apparently still alive and claims to be the last of the monzù. (More on them in the Notes below.) So no, this is not a quick and easy weeknight dinner dish, but it is truly, authentically Italian, steeped in culinary history.
Carciofi coi piselli (Braised Artichokes and Peas)
Looking for something with a similar flavor profile but a bit easier to make than la vignarola? In this recipe two iconic spring vegetables, artichokes and peas, are braised together with an onion flavor base to make this simple but tasty side dish. Often made with a bit of pancetta and broth, you can omit the pancetta and substitute water for broth to make a vegan version which, to my mind, is even nicer than the conventional one.
Piselli alla romana (Roman-Style Peas)
And if you’re looking for something even simpler, here’s another springtime Roman favorite, piselli alla romana. In fact, this tasty and elegant side dish is about as simple as a recipe can get, short of boiling water.