How to Make Fava Bean Agnolotti from The French Laundry

Y’all every worked with fava beans? Yeah me neither. It’s a much bigger bean than I expected, has a furry inside, and you get 4-5 small beans per huge bean. It’s a bit of work to shuck them.

This is my first from the French Laundry cookbook, so I figured we could ease into it with a pasta recipe. I feel fairly confident in my pasta making skills but have never made Agnolotti we’ll see how this goes.

We could probably talk all day about The French Laundry and how iconic of a restaurant it is, but for a few highlights:

Run by famous chef Thomas Keller – most Michelin decorated American chef. Only America chef to simultaneously have (2) three Michelin Star restaurants. Has 7 stars total. Basically that means this guy really knows how to cook.
Been open for over 25 years
3 Michelin Stars
Has more than 15,000 bottles of wine
Usually around 10 course menu, plus other appetizers, and a load of desserts they bring out.
I got to meet Thomas last time I was there! He is a lot taller than you think

Thomas clearly loves agnolotti, he has a whole section in this book about it with this recipe being the first one featured. I mean they are an amazing small ravioli and is easier to handle and cook, so I definitely get it. I’d rather make these instead of ravs as well. Let’s see what fava beans and agnolotti are all about.

Ingredients –

Fava Bean Filling –

Fava beans – 2-3 Pounds of – I got 2 from the Ferry Building Farmers Market and that was enough
Fresh breadcrumbs – 3/4 cup
Mascarpone – 1/4 cup + 1 1/2 tsp

Pasta dough –

All purpose flour – 1 3/4 cups
Large Egg yolks – 6 large
Large eggs – 1
Olive Oil – 1 1/2 tsp
Milk – 1 tbsp

Curry Emulsion –

Curry powder – 2 tsp
Chopped scallions – 2 tbsp
Vegetable stock, chicken stock, or water – 3/4 cup + 2 tbsp
Heavy cream – 1/4 cup
Creme fraiche – 1/4 cup
Unsalted butter – 8 tbsp (I think I ended up using half this amount)
Salt
Pepper

Tools –

Step 1 – Make the Fava Bean Filling

Shell the fava beans. You will need to cut them open length wise, then take each little bean out. The beans are held on by a little cord, be sure to remove the little germ on top of the bean as well. Set into a measuring cup or bowl. You will need about 1 1/2 cups for the filling, so this step takes a little time.

When done, blanch the beans. Put into a lightly boiling pot of water heavily salted for 5 minutes or until tender. Immediately transfer to ice water and chill, when cold, dry on paper towels.

Place the beans in the food processor with the bread crumbs. Blend until they make a ball and come together. Add the mascarpone, and continue to blend until smooth. Season with salt. Set aside in the refrigerator.

Step 2 – Make the dough

I’ll start off by saying this was a tough dough to work with. So if you have another ravioli dough recipe that you like, I might suggest making it instead of this. This one seemed a little gooey and needed a lot of TLC and flour to work with. On one of my next posts I will do the Flour + Water ravioli dough which i enjoyed working with more.

Start my measuring out your flour, pour onto a clean surface and make a big well.

Combine the remaining ingredients in a bowl, mix together, then pour in the center of the well.

Making pasta is a kind of zen like art. The ingredients are so simple, but the dough is slightly different every time you make it, which makes it a lot of fun. I have had some seriously frustrating pasta experiences, and that’s okay because you learn a lot, and will only continue to get better.

One tool I cannot stress enough that you should get is a bench scraper. This seriously changes the game. You can add flour into the mixture much easier, and when the mixture sticks to the surface, you can easily scrape it off. I cannot so enough how much you should buy one if you don’t have one.

Slowly combine the flour and egg mixture. I usually start off with my finger and slowly add flour from the sides with my bench scraper. Keep combining until the mixture is becoming more solid, and the well becomes pointless. There comes a point where you basically have to get your hand dirty and start mixing everything in. Start that process and continue to integrate the flour into the egg mixture. Once basically combined, you then knead the dough for 10-15 minutes. To knead, using the bottom of your palm, firmly press into the center of the dough, rotate and continue until the dough starts to firm up. When solid, roll in a ball, and cover with plastic wrap for at least 30 minutes.

Step 3 – Roll out the dough

This definitely comes with practices as well. Cut the dough into 4 pieces, grab one to start using.

Flatten the dough with your hands or a rolling pin. Have the pasta roller on the widest setting, roll through twice, move to the next setting and repeat. Once at the third setting, laminate the dough by folding in half, then in half again. Using you hands or a rolling, flatten again and start the process again.

Roll out the dough, twice on each setting, until the dough becomes slightly translucent so you can see your hands. For me that was the second to last setting. Once finished, move to step 4 for the agnolottis, you will have to repeat this another 3 times after this.

Step 4 – Filling the rolling the agnolotti

Stuff pastas can be a bitch sometimes. So try not to get too down on yourself if you are having trouble. The filling here is actually very solid has very little moisture, so it’s a very favorable filling. When working with some cheeses, things can sometimes get interesting.

Lay your pasta across a lightly floured work surface. Start placing the filling in the center of the dough with a little room in between each dab. When the pasta sheet is fully dabbed, start folding over the pasta dough to the other side. Start closing and sectioning off the agnolotti. Pinch in between each agnolotti on the folded part closest to you to further section them. Using a past tool, cut long way across the whole sheet to trim the pieces, cut close to where the filling is closed and sealed. Next, cut in between the pieces and the should form themselves on each cut. Feel free to cut closer to the pieces if your filling was too far apart.

Step 5 – Sauce and finish

Over medium heat, toast the curry powder until fragrant, stir in the scallions for another minute. Add the stock, cream, and creme fraiche. Bring to a boil cook until reduced to about 1/2 cup of liquid, swirl in the butter. When the butter melts, transfer to a blender or immersion blender and the the 2 tbsp of stock. Blend for 30 seconds to emulsify the mixture. Season with salt and pepper.

Meanwhile, cook the agnolotti in a large pot of boiling salted water until cooked through. 3-5 minutes if not less. Drain, add to the sauce and toss over low heat. Serve immediately.

And that’s a wrap. I think a good rule of thumb when making pasta is to know that it will take a lot longer than you think it will. Literally never get home from work and think you are going to make a fresh pasta until you like eating like the Spanish, late night.

This really is a great pasta, the filling was great and I can’t wait to make agnolotti again. Let me know how your experience goes in the comments below.

And for the ratings –

Difficulty of ingredients to find – 4/5 stars – May need to go to a farmers market to find fava beans
Perceived difficulty going into recipe – 4/5 stars – Agnolotti may be new for some people
Difficulty after recipe – 3.5 stars – Agnolotti is definitely easier to roll than most stuff pastas
Time taken – 4/5 stars – right around 4 hours
Taste – 4/5 stars – Amazing dish, looking forward to trying again
Make again – 4/5 stars – I am looking forward to making this again