Flounder with Fava, White Bean, and Duck Bacon

Here is a great spring fish recipe using those fresh fava beans that are coming into season right now. I love fava beans, the flavor and texture, that is but not necessarily the prep involved in getting them ready to eat. It is a little bit of a process of getting them out of their pods, then blanching them, and then peeling the outer layer of shell. But it the end it is totally worth it. I recently got my hands on some wild flounder and really didn’t want to over complicate the fish with a lot of things. I simply seasoned the fish with salt and pepper and made a bean ragout. Here is the recipe for how to make flounder with fava bean ragout, I hope you enjoy it!

Recipe Ingredients

4 fillets of flounder

1 lb of white beans ( soaked in water if you have time for at least 1 hour)

1 /2 charred onion

3 garlic cloves

1 sprig of rosemary

8 cups of water

2 tsp salt plus more

1/4 cup of duck prosciutto or bacon diced

1 cup of fava beans blanched

1/2 onion diced

2 cloves of garlic minced

2 tbsp of olive oil

1 tbsp of sherry vinegar

salt and pepper

Recipe Instructions

How to cook white beans,

Drain the beans and then place them with all of its ingredients into a soup pot. Place on top of the stove on medium high heat. Bring to a boil and then turn down to a light simmer and cover. Cook for 30 minutes or so then add the salt. Continue to cook for another 25-30 minutes until the beans are just tender all the way through. Here I like to pour the beans into a shallow baking dish to cool, don’t strain out the cooking liquid. You want to stop the cooking process so they don’t overcook and become mush. Set aside to cool.

To Finish,

In a large saute pan on medium heat add 3 tbsp of olive oil. Season the flounder with salt and pepper and place face down into the pan. Cook for 4 minutes on the fillet side. Meanwhile in another saute pan on medium high heat, add 2 tbsp of olive oil along with the duck bacon. Cook for 3 minutes and then add the onion and garlic to the pan along with a pinch of salt. Cook for another few 2 minutes and add 2 cups of cooked beans to the pan along with a little of the bean water. Bring to a boil and cook for 2 minutes. Add the fava beans with a few splashes of the sherry vinegar. Season everything with salt and pepper. Cook for another minute and adjust seasoning if need be. Flip the flounder over and cook for another 30 seconds on the bottom side then take out and place on plate. Spoon the bean ragout into the bowl with some of the juice. Place the fish on top. Drizzle everything with olive oil and herb flowers if desired. Serve and enjoy!.