Favas com Entrecosto is a traditional Portuguese dish made with pork ribs, fresh broad beans, chouriço, and aromatics all braised in the same pot. It’s absolutely delicious and a dish I make as soon as broad beans season hits Portugal. Like most Portuguese dishes, it’s super simple to prepare. The only taxing part is shelling the favas, but I promise you it all pays off in the end. It’s nourishing and packed with Portuguese flavours and one of my favourite spring dishes. Keep reading to learn how to make this Authentic Favas com Chouriço!
Fava Beans: The Star of Spring in Portugal!
If spring in Portugal could be summed up in one ingredient, it would be favas. As early as April they start popping up in farmers’ markets and mercados and will be featured in dozens of recipes. Either simply sautéed, served in a salad, or fattened up with meats and cured sausages, there’s a recipe for everyone.
My current favourite is Favas com Entrecosto. The favas are braised with pork ribs, sliced chouriço, pork belly, and a handful of aromatics, until nice and tender. The name already implies that the favas are the star of this dish! It’s favas com entrecosto or ‘fava beans with pork ribs’ and not the other way around. All the other ingredients are simply there to add more flavour to the favas.
Ingredients for Authentic Favas com Entrecosto
To make this recipe, as well as your broad beans, you will also need pork ribs, two types of Portuguese chouriço (chouriço de carne, and chouriço Mouro) and a piece of cured pork belly called toucinho entremeado in Portugal. Chouriço de Carne is your typical Portuguese chouriço; bright red and smokey. The Chouriço Mouro is seasoned and smoked similarly to a standard chouriço, however, as well as lean pork meat, blood and offal are also added resulting in a much darker richer sausage.
Seasonings and Aromatics
The pork ribs are seasoned with a classic Portuguese marinade made with white wine, garlic, bay leaf, massa de pimentos or red pepper paste, ground cumin, salt, and black pepper. You will also need onions that are diced and sautéed with the pork ribs. The final ingredients that will add even more depth to this dish are our fresh herbs; mint, parsley, cilantro, and garlic chives that can be replaced with regular chives or spring onions.
How to Make Fava Beans with Pork Ribs and Chouriço
The first step to making this dish is to marinade the pork ribs. You can do that by adding the ribs to a bowl or bag alongside the white wine, bay leaf, cumin powder, red pepper paste, salt, black pepper, and garlic gloves lightly crushed in their skin. You can leave it to marinade while you shell the favas, but ideally you want them to sit in the fridge overnight.
The next step is to shell the favas by simply splitting the pods along their seams, picking out the beans, making sure to discard the little bit that attaches them to the pod. Typically, you don’t remove inner shell of the favas. Give the favas a good rinse, then set them aside.
We then slice the chouriço and cut the pork belly into small strips. To a frying pan or Dutch oven, we add the sliced sausages and pork belly and sauté over medium low heat until golden and lightly crispy. We want to render as much fat as possible. Set aside the sausages and pork belly but leave the rendered fat in the pan.
Turn the heat to medium high, add in the marinated pork ribs on a single layer. Don’t discard the leftover marinade. Sear the ribs undisturbed for about 5 minutes on each side until golden, then reduce the heat to low. Stir in the diced onions, let them cook with the ribs until softened, for about 5 minutes. You then deglaze the frying pan with the leftover marinade juices, gently scrapping the bottom op the pan with a wooden spoon to release all the good bits.
Transfer the ribs with the onions to a large pot for which you have a lid. Let it simmer on low heat with the lid on for about 20 minutes. Add in the favas, cooked chouriço sausages, and pork belly, stir well. Place the bouquet garni on top, cover again with the lid and let it braise for another 30 minutes, stirring every now and then.
Since the favas will release plenty of liquid, there’s no need to add extra stock or water. However, if it dries out too much, you can add another splash of white wine. Take out the herb bouquet and season with more salt and black pepper. Enjoy with white rice or a slice of crusty bread!
How to Make Favas com Entrecosto – Braised Pork Ribs and Broad Beans
Favas com Entrecosto – Braised Pork Ribs and Broad Beans
6
servings1
hour10
minutes1
hour10
minutes750
kcalFavas com Entrecosto is a traditional Portuguese dish made with pork ribs, fresh broad beans, chouriço, and aromatics all braised in the same pot.
Ingredients
1 Pork Rib Rack (1kg) – separated
1.5 kg Fresh Broad Beans (shelled weight from about 4kg unshelled beans)
1/2 Chouriço de Carne (100g) – sliced
1/2 Chouriço Mouro (100g) – sliced
100 g Cured Pork Belly – cut into strips
1 Large Onion – diced
5 Garlic Cloves – lightly crushed
1 tbsp Portuguese Red Pepper Paste
1/2 tsp Cumin
1 Bay Leaf
2/3 cup White Wine (150ml)
Salt – to taste
Black pepper – to taste
1/3 Mint Bunch
1/3 Cilantro Bunch
1/3 Parsley Bunch
1/3 Garlic Chive Bunch
Directions
- Start by separating the rack of ribs and adding individual ribs to a Ziploc bag or a bowl alongside the white wine, garlic cloves, red pepper paste, cumin powder, bay leaf, and salt and black pepper to taste. Let it marinade while you shell the beans or, ideally, overnight in the fridge.
- Next, shell the favas one by one by simply splitting the pods along their seams, picking out the beans, making sure to discard the little stem attaching them to the pod as well as the pods. Give the favas a good rinse, then set them aside.
- Slice both chouriço sausages, then cut the pork belly piece into small strips. Add everything to a large frying pan or Dutch oven. Sauté over medium low heat until golden and lightly crispy. We want to render as much fat as possible. Set aside the sausages and pork belly but leave the rendered fat in the pan.
- Turn the heat to medium high, add in the marinated pork ribs on a single layer with the meat side facing down. Don’t discard the leftover marinade. Sear the ribs undisturbed for about 5 minutes on each side until golden, then reduce the heat to low. Stir in the diced onions, let them cook with the ribs until softened, for about 5 minutes.
- If you are using a shallow frying pan, transfer the ribs with the onions to a large pot for which you have a lid. Let it simmer on low heat with the lid on for about 20 minutes. Add in the favas, cooked chouriço sausages, and pork belly, stir well.
- Tie the herbs together with a piece of kitchen string or with a sprig of garlic chives, place it on top of the beans and meats. Cover again with the lid and let it braise for another 30 minutes, stirring every now and then.
- Once the favas are cooked, take out the herb bouquet, then season with more salt and black pepper to taste. Garnish with some more chopped fresh cilantro. Serve it with white rice or with a couple of slices of a crusty Portuguese bread. Enjoy!
Tips
- This recipe is best done with fresh favas, but you can also use frozen if fresh are not available to you.
- Typically, you don’t remove the inner shell of the favas. However, if you don’t enjoy their texture like that, you can double shell them. Just blanch the favas then place them on an ice bath, which will make them easier to peel. Just make sure to adjust final cooking time.
Have you tried this recipe? Let me know in the comments!