Pasta with Bean Sauce

Remove the fava beans from their shells. Blanch the beans in salted boiling water for 1 minute. Drain the beans and immediately plunge them into ice water. Drain the beans and peel off the outer skin. If using lima beans, just thaw and hold them at room temperature. Reserve 1/2 cup whole beans.

In a saucepan over medium-low heat, heat the olive oil with the shallots or onions and peperoncini and saute until the onions are wilted. Add the chicken stock and turn up the heat to high, bring to a boil, and cook for 5 minutes. Add the beans and salt and pepper. Cook for 2 minutes.

Pour the mixture into a food processor or blender and puree.

In a large pot, bring the water to a boil and cook the pasta until just done. Drain the pasta and put into a bowl (reserve 1/2 cup of the pasta cooking water).

In a large saute pan, warm the bean sauce. Add the pasta and whole beans to the sauce and toss gently, adding the reserved pasta water to moisten, if needed. Finish with the grated Pecorino Romano cheese and freshly ground black pepper, to taste.