HANNAH’S BORSCHT
As a signifier, borscht lacks any sex appeal: It conjures grandmas in babushkas and guys who guffaw at Jackie Mason jokes. But in real life, borscht is a stunner—or this one is. Why? Because we cook the beets in brine instead of water and use some of that brine in the soup too. It comes to the table in a jaw-dropping shade of fuchsia, a color that’s psychedelic and happy-making (and that will also ruin at least one person’s shirt during the course of a meal). At my house, borscht is made early in the day during the summer, then put in the fridge to chill. Come eating time, we put the pot out with a ladle stuck into it and lay out a czar-worthy spread of herbs and eggs so that eaters can finish their bowls as they see fit. With butter and rye bread (and maybe a salad if the garden is in swing), there’s little better to beat the heat.
MAKES 8 SERVINGS (ABOUT 4 QUARTS)
2 lb beets, topped and tailed
1 C white vinegar
¼ C sugar
1 T kosher salt
1 large cucumber (about 12 oz), peeled
½ C chopped scallions (about 4), plus more for garnish
3 T finely chopped fresh dill, plus more for garnish
1 T fresh lemon juice
3 C cold buttermilk
+ freshly ground black pepper
+ sour cream or crème fraîche, for serving
+ quartered hard-boiled eggs
1 Fit the beets, vinegar, sugar, and salt in a snug single layer in a medium pot and add enough water to just cover the beets (3 to 4 cups). Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce the heat and simmer until the beets are tender, about 45 minutes, depending on their size. Add water as needed to keep the beets covered in brine.
2 Reserving the brine, remove the beets, and when cool enough to handle, wipe off their skins with a dry paper towel—that’s all you need to peel them. (Your hands will eventually return to a normal color; this is the price borscht extracts.)
3 Grate the beets on the coarse side of a box grater into a large bowl. Grate the cucumber into the bowl with the beets and add the scallions, dill, lemon juice, and 2 cups of the reserved brine. Stir and fold the mixture with a spoon. Slowly add the buttermilk and stir to combine. Add salt and pepper to taste—it should be assertively seasoned. Add up to 1 cup of brine to thin the soup.
4 Refrigerate the soup until very cold, at least 2 hours and up to 3 days. Serve in bowls with a dollop of sour cream, a sprinkle of scallions and dill, and a few pieces of hard-boiled egg. Freshly ground black pepper is usually a good idea too.
CARROT-JUICE CURRY
There are a few more components to this dish than others in the book, but type A cooks should have no problem managing the mise en place: Each component is simple to bring together. It’s a vaguely Asian “fancy” dish for a night when you’ve got a vegetarian to impress.
MAKES 4 (MAIN-COURSE) SERVINGS
CURRY BASE
1 can (15 oz) coconut milk, refrigerated for 30 minutes
2 garlic cloves, smashed
1 piece (1”) fresh ginger, peeled and smashed
¼ C Thai red curry paste (jarred or canned)
1 stalk lemongrass, smashed and tied into a knot
2 C carrot juice
Roasted Vegetables
2 lb mixed vegetables (such as zucchini, okra, bell peppers, cauliflower, carrots, baby corn), cut into bite-size pieces
2 T neutral oil
+ kosher salt
SEEDED BROWN BUTTER
4 T unsalted butter
1 T black mustard seeds
1 T sesame seeds
½ t chili flakes
4 kaffir lime leaves or ½ t grated lime zest
Assembly
+ cooked rice noodles (optional), or serve with jasmine rice on the side
+ scallions, sliced
+ cilantro, picked
+ Thai basil, torn
+ toasted unsweetened coconut flakes (optional)
1 Make the curry base: Open the cold can of coco-nut milk and scoop out the solidified cream from the watery milk below. Set both aside separately.
2 Melt the coconut cream in a heavy saucepan over medium heat. Add the garlic, ginger, and curry paste, and let bubble for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring every minute or so, until the reddened coconut oil separates from the mass. Stir in the lemongrass and then the coconut milk and carrot juice. Simmer until reduced by one-third, about 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and let stand for 15 minutes. Strain and proceed.
3 Roast the vegetables: Heat the oven to 425°F.
4 Combine your vegetables in a bowl and toss them with the oil and a large pinch of salt. Arrange them on a rimmed baking sheet or two—they shouldn’t be crowded—and roast until browned and just cooked through, about 25 minutes.
5 Meanwhile make the seeded brown butter: Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the mustard and sesame seeds and cook, shaking the pan to brown the milk solids evenly, 1½ to 3 minutes. The mustard seeds may splatter and pop; briefly cover the pan or remove from the heat if they get out of hand. When the butter solids are the color of a hazelnut skin, remove from the heat. Stir in the chili flakes and lime leaves.
6 Put it together: If using noodles, make a little bed of them in the bottom of a warmed, shallow bowl. Arrange a pile of vegetables in the middle, then pour some of the curry sauce around the base of the dish, making a little swimming pool for the vegetable kiddos. Top with the scallions and herbs and, if desired, a sprinkle of coconut flakes. Stir the butter to distribute the seeds, then drizzle over the dish. Serve hot.
FRENCH ONION SOUP
When someone proposed French onion soup made without beef stock, I protested, “Mais non! Ce n’est pas possible!” Except when I try to say French words it sounds like I’m gargling with dog kibble, so no one heard or heeded me, and the recipe was attempted against my inscrutable protestations. And comme par chance, c’est bon, c’est très bon! Spare the cow and praise the onion!
MAKES 4 SERVINGS
3 T unsalted butter, plus more for the toasts
1 T olive oil
2 lb yellow onions, thinly sliced (about 8 C)
1 t kosher salt
1 t sugar
½ C white wine
2 T all-purpose flour
6 C Brown Vegetable Stock or some lesser concoction, warmed
2 T Calvados or applejack (optional)
4 slices sourdough bread
1 garlic clove, halved
½ C grated Gruyère cheese
1 Caramelize the onions: Melt the butter with the olive oil in a large, heavy pot over medium-low heat. Add the onions and fold them to coat in fat. Cover the pot and sweat the onions until they collapse, about 15 minutes. Uncover and sprinkle the onions with the salt and sugar. Continue cooking the onions, uncovered, turning them over on themselves every few minutes with a spatula or spoon. Use the spatula to smooth the ever-darkening mass of onions into an even layer and to keep loose strands from sticking and burning to the edge of the pot. As the onions cook, the bottom of the pan should remain clean, without building up any scorched, stuck bits of onion. If matter builds up that can’t be scraped away with the spatula, add a few drops of water to the spot and work it away. Cook the onions until they are an even, dark caramel color. This will take 30 to 45 minutes. Don’t stray too far from the stove during this process.
2 Add the white wine to the onions and simmer, scraping up any browned bits in the bottom of the pot, until the wine has evaporated. Sprinkle the flour on top of the mixture, and fold it into the onions. When the flour is fully incorporated—meaning it has more or less disappeared—add the stock and stir gently to combine. Continue stirring, bringing the soup to a simmer; it will thicken slightly as the flour warms. Simmer gently, with the pot partially covered, for 45 minutes. Stir in the Calvados (if using) and continue simmering for 10 minutes. (The soup can be made 1 day ahead to this point, and will taste better if rested overnight.)
3 Toast the bread, rub it with a garlic clove, and spread it with a little butter. Divide the soup among bowls, and float the toast on top. Sprinkle with the Gruyère and serve.
BROWN VEGETABLE STOCK
MAKES 6 CUPS
2 lb yellow onions
1 T vegetable oil
1 lb carrots, peeled and cut into 2” pieces
1 lb celery, cut into 2” pieces
½ bunch parsley stems (about 1 C)
1 T peppercorns
3 bay leaves
1 Peel away the loose skins of the onions, leaving 1 to 2 layers of firmly wrapped skin. Trim away any large or dirty roots without piercing the flesh of the onions. Cut the onions in half along the equator and rub the cut side with a few drops of vegetable oil. Heat a stockpot over medium-high heat and lay the onions cut side down into the pot. Cook them until they are very dark brown but not quite burned, about 6 minutes. (Take care not to scorch the onions or the pot, which will make the stock taste bitter. If it happens, pause and wash out the pot.)
2 When the onions are pleasantly browned, flip them, add the carrots and celery, and 12 cups of cold water. Bring to a simmer, skimming any froth that collects on the surface of the water. Simmer for 20 minutes, then add the parsley stems, peppercorns, and bay leaves. Continue simmering until reduced by half, another 20 minutes, then remove from the heat and let steep for 10 minutes. Strain through a fine-mesh strainer and discard the solids.
RICE PORRIDGE WITH CORN AND MISO
Forget oatmeal, this is the Power Vegetables! way to start the day.
While you should, of course, make this Japan-easy porridge exactly as prescribed here, I will concede that any rice will work, any color miso will work, and should you want to make it during the (significant) times of the year when corn isn’t worth buying fresh, you can use frozen corn kernels, so long as you bolster that stock in step 1. Any dashi or veg broth will do, or up the shiitake quantity and simmering time, and you’ll be just fine.
MAKES 4 SERVINGS
3 ears corn, shucked
4–5 C water
2 scallions, white and green parts separated, greens sliced
2 garlic cloves, smashed
1 piece (1”) fresh ginger, peeled and smashed
2 dried shiitake mushrooms
1½ C cooked short-grain rice (leftover is A-okay)
2 T red miso
2 T unsalted butter
+ soy sauce or black vinegar
1 Make the corn broth: Cut the kernels from the cobs. Set the kernels aside and transfer the cobs to a large saucepan. Add the water, scallion whites, garlic, ginger, and shiitakes. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for 20 minutes.
2 Strain the solids out of the broth and pick the shiitakes out from the strainer. Remove and discard the shiitake stems (or compost them along with what’s left in the strainer like the responsible global citizen you are). Slice the shiitake caps and set aside.
3 Measure out your strained broth. If you have less than 4½ cups of it, top the rest off with water. Return the broth to the pot and stir in the cooked rice. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook, stirring occasionally but not obsessively, until it turns to porridge, about 15 minutes. (You could stop at this point and throw the porridge in the fridge, then bring it all together in the morning for a killer boil-and-serve breakfast—just bring it back to a simmer before proceeding.) Stir in the corn kernels and simmer until they are cooked, 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in the miso and butter and remove from the heat.
4 Serve in bowls topped with the sliced shiitakes, sliced scallion greens, and a drizzle of soy sauce or black vinegar to taste.
MUSHROOM MAPO TOFU
Looking back, I could cleave my life into two halves: the time before I knew mapo tofu and the time after. It is absolutely one of my favorite foods and I thought that because there’s so much delicious gunk in it, swapping out the small amount of meat in the traditional dish for something else would be easy peasy. Not true! I’m happy with this cruelty-free rendition we arrived at, but be warned that unlike take-out mapo, it’s not just as good the next day. You wanna take it down hot.
MAKES 4 SERVINGS
1 oz dried shiitake mushrooms, soaked in 4 C water for at least 30 minutes
5 oz fresh shiitake or button mushrooms
+ kosher salt
1 lb soft tofu, cut into 1” cubes
2 T neutral oil
1 leek, halved lengthwise and sliced into 1” pieces on an angle
1 T chopped garlic
1 T chopped fresh ginger
2 T doubanjiang
2 T spicy chili crisp
1 T black bean paste (very optional but nice)
2 t coarsely ground Sichuan peppercorns
1 t gochugaru
1 T cornstarch mixed with 1 T cold water to form a slurry
+ cooked jasmine rice, for serving
1 Remove the shiitakes from their soaking liquid but keep that liquid near at hand. Finely chop the fresh and dried mushrooms with a cleaver, knife, or mechanical food chopper of some sort.
2 Bring a medium pot of water to the boil and salt it. Have all your mise en place readied and measured and near the stove.
3 Add the tofu cubes and poach them for 2 to 3 minutes. Drain, season with salt, and keep warm.
4 Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a wok (or large, deep skillet, but, come on, get a wok!) over high heat. Add the mushrooms and cook, scraping from underneath the mushrooms and folding them over, arranging them in a thin layer around the wok, until they release their liquid and it evaporates, about 8 minutes. Add the leek, garlic, and ginger and stir-fry for 3 minutes. Scoop the vegetables onto a plate and wipe out the wok.
5 Add the remaining 1 tablespoon oil to the wok and put it back over high heat. Add the doubanjiang, chili crisp, black bean paste (if using), Sichuan pepper, and gochugaru and stir to combine. Fry them, stirring so they do not burn, until the oil separates from the mixture, about 1 minute. Stir the mushroom soaking liquid into the fiery stuff in the wok, then add back the stir-fried vegetables to the mixture and bring to a boil. Stir in the cornstarch slurry and boil again. Stir in the tofu cubes, coating them in the mapo stew. Serve with rice, hot.
SICHUAN SQUASH STEW
This is a version of a smart dish Danny Bowien serves at Mission Chinese Food—he makes his with sweet potato greens instead of watercress, and works a little bit harder on building up the umami in his broth. This is the night-school-at-a-community-college version of his dish, with easier-to-find ingredients and almost all of the punch. It is a warming, filling soup that’s got all the character of the sort of psychedelic Sichuan food that he’s known for but also a healthful/restorative/I-just-finished-yoga-and-feel-good-eating-this quality that might mean it ends up on your dinner table more often than you suspect looking at it here on the page.
MAKES 4 SERVINGS
¼ C dried adzuki beans
+ kosher salt
1 lb kabocha squash, cut into 1” wedges
3 T extra-virgin olive oil
1 dried shiitake mushroom
1 t chopped garlic
2 T sambal oelek, plus more for garnish
+ fish sauce (optional)
8 oz watercress cut into 2” pieces
2 T pumpkin seeds
1 Combine the adzuki beans with enough water to cover by 3 inches in a large saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer until the beans are tender, about 45 minutes. Add 1 teaspoon salt to the water and let the beans cool.
2 Meanwhile, heat the oven to 350°F. Rub the squash with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and arrange in a roasting pan. Roast the squash until tender and a little caramelized, about 1 hour. Let cool, then remove the skin. Cut half of the wedges into bite-size chunks. Purée the remaining squash with ½ cup of water.
3 Buzz the shiitake in a spice grinder to make mushroom powder. Reserve. (If you’re not inclined to blitz a dried mushroom to make a soup, throw a few dried shiitakes in with the 3 cups of water you’ll be adding in the next step and boil up a rich-tasting/smelling mushroom broth. Why not throw a piece of kombu in there too if you have it?)
4 Drain the adzuki beans and pat dry. Heat a wok over medium-high heat and when the wok emits a wisp of smoke, add the remaining 2 tablespoons oil. The oil should immediately ripple. Add the garlic, adzuki beans, and mushroom powder. Add 3 cups of water, the sambal, and squash purée. Bring to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes for the flavors to meld. Fold the squash chunks into the stew and simmer 1 minute to warm through. Season with salt and a few dashes of fish sauce, if desired. Add the watercress and remove from the heat.
5 Ladle into bowls and garnish with the pumpkin seeds and additional sambal, if desired.
PAPPA AL POMODORO
Did you ever eat English muffin pizzas as an after-school snack? They are delightful, a high achievement in toaster-oven cuisine.
When we were examining pappa al pomodoro for inclusion in this distinguished compendium, we liked it—but it wasn’t quite powerful enough. But eating it reminded me of a years-ago conversation with the chef Mario Carbone, in which he told me about making a canapé in which English muffin pizzas drown in tomato sauce, pappa-style.
Having never seen that dish, nor having any use for canapés on a regular basis, I offer you this debased derivative: pappa al pomodoro al toaster-oven pizzaiolo. If normalcy is more of what you want to see, substitute a rustico loaf for the English muffins and dial down or eliminate the oregano, and you’ll be back under the Tuscan sun instead of sitting in the glare of after-school cartoons.
MAKES 4 SERVINGS
4 English muffins
¼ C extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
2 garlic cloves, chopped
½ C chopped basil, plus basil chiffonade for garnish
1 t dried oregano
1 t kosher salt
½ t chili flakes
1 can (28 oz) whole peeled tomatoes
+ grated cheese or chili flakes—any of your favorite pizza condiments are welcome
1 Fork-split the English muffins. Toast them in a toaster or 450°F oven until they are dark brown and dried out. Let cool.
2 Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan or small soup pot. Add the garlic and fry until the garlic is soft, about 2 minutes. Stir in the chopped basil, oregano, salt, and chili flakes, then add the tomatoes. Break up the tomatoes with a wooden spoon, then add a half can of water to the pot. Bring to a simmer and cook, uncovered, for 15 minutes.
3 Break up the English muffins into 1-inch pieces and toss into the tomato sauce. Fold the muffin bits to coat in the sauce and simmer for about 5 minutes, until the soup thickens. Turn off the heat and let the pappa stand 15 minutes.
4 Serve at room temperature, drizzled with olive oil and scattered with basil. Garnish with your favorite pizza toppings.
VICHYSSOISE
I know what you’re thinking. Really?? Vichyssoise? What is this, 1973? And yes, every vaguely continental cookbook with nicotine-stained pages from a used bookstore will have an entry on this soup. Why? Because EASE IS POWER. And how many cold soups satisfy like this one? None. Also: We make ours with dashi. Heap it with caviar or chopped tomato or any kind of chilled protein to make a proper uptown-lady luncheon course out of it. Drink it straight from the fridge when no one’s looking if you’re like me.
MAKES 4 SERVINGS
3 large leeks, white and palest green parts only
4 T unsalted butter
1 lb russet potatoes, peeled and chopped
5 C broth (see note)
+ kosher salt
½ C half-and-half
+ freshly ground black pepper
Note on broth: We’ve made this every which way. Water makes a meager soup. A vegetable broth like the Brown Vegetable Stock does a good, classic job. But for the fully powered approach, we like dashi: You can make a kombu dashi by steeping a few pieces of kombu in 5 cups of water overnight or steeping them together in a pan over low heat for 20 to 40 minutes. Or just dissolve 2 teaspoons of hondashi (instant dashi) in the water and call it a day!
1 Halve the leeks lengthwise and rinse them, inside and out, under cool running water. Leeks are always so sandy! Why? If your leeks aren’t sandy, you might be happy, but where were they grown? The sand is the earth’s way of saying I MADE THAT. Still, it must be washed away for the soup to be made. Thank you, Earth. Pat the leeks dry and thinly slice crosswise.
2 Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat and add the leeks. Stir to coat them in the fat and cook them, stirring often, until they’ve softened but not taken on any color, about 8 minutes.
3 Add the potatoes, broth, and 2 teaspoons salt. Bring to a simmer and cook until the potatoes are tender, about 30 minutes. Remove from the heat and cool slightly.
4 Blend the soup, in batches if necessary, until very smooth. Chill the soup for at least 4 hours, and preferably overnight. Stir in the half-and-half. Taste the soup and reseason with salt and pepper. Garnish as you like. A dollop of crème fraîche and a healthy scattering of chopped chives is nice.
CARROTS IN CARROT DASHI
A Dave Chang classic, though it’s more or less stolen from Mauro Colagreco, who cooks at Mirazur outside of Nice, in the extra pretty coastal part of France.
Juice carrots fresh for this dish or buy carrot juice fresh from some kinda health food place where all the models go. If you don’t have a place like that near your house yet, wait between six months and fifteen years. New York is so lousy with juice bars I’m sure we’ll start exporting them everywhere soon. And truth be told even the fresh bottled carrot juice that industrial carrot slaughterer Bolthouse Farms sells these days works well.
MAKES 2 SERVINGS
1 C carrot juice
1 sheet kombu
2 T unsalted butter
4 carrots, scrubbed
+ kosher salt (Maldon salt if you’re feeling fancy)
Note: This recipe is the most up-to-date and, frankly, resolutely delicious version of this dish, but the end results are very straightforward looking: It is a dish of carrots in carrot juice. So we decided to re-create the peacocky original for the photo: Some of the carrots have been browned in butter before being cooked in dashi; purple carrots have been shaved and pickled into exotically colorful garnishes; some of the carrots have been puréed into a mush to anchor the carrots on the plate; even the carrot tops make an appearance. If any of that frippery appeals to you, by all means, get to work. None of it’s bad. But EASE IS POWER forever and ever amen.
1 Combine the carrot juice and kombu in a saucepan and heat together over your stove’s lowest heat. If you’ve got 20 to 40 minutes to let the seaweed steep in the juice, excellent. Less time is also okay. If you wanted to be a really cold-brew yoga snob, you could put the kombu in the carrot juice overnight in the fridge for a long no-temperature extraction. Namaste.
2 Melt the butter in a high-sided pan over medium heat. Once the butter foam subsides, add the carrots and a large pinch of salt. Toss once to coat the carrots in the butter and add the carrot juice, discarding the kombu. Cover the pan and cook, shaking it or opening the lid to stir the carrots occasionally. Gauge the doneness of the carrots after 6 or 7 minutes, and cook them to your taste—al dente or left-my-dentures-on-the-nightstand soft. Serve as is. A scattering of Maldon salt is as much as it might want.
RIBOLLITA
This is New York chef Marco Canora’s ribollita recipe, which is the best ribollita we know. A few things: Until you add a cheese-topped toast at the last minute, this is vegan, and as a vegan stew-soup, it is nearly unbeatable; also, you should stop eating all your kale raw and try it out in a setting like this where it can really shine. Finally, you will make this soup in this quantity and not reduce it because it can be reheated again and again without any negative impact on its quality (it is “re-boiled” in name, after all) and because you will rue not having extra around if you don’t.
MAKES 1 GALLON (8 SERVINGS)
2 T extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
3 C diced onions
3 C diced carrots
3 C diced celery
+ kosher salt
4 C chopped savoy cabbage (about ½ head)
⅓ C tomato paste
8 C chopped dinosaur kale (about 2 bunches)
10 C water
5 C cooked cannellini beans (or use canned like we did, but don’t tell Marco!)
+ freshly ground black pepper
+ thin slices of bread, toasted
+ freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
+ fresh thyme leaves
1 Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onions, carrots, and celery. Season with salt and stir to coat the vegetables with oil. Cover and sweat the vegetables, stirring occasionally, until they begin to soften, about 10 minutes.
2 Add the savoy cabbage and mix well. Cover and cook until it begins to wilt, about 3 minutes.
3 Stir in the tomato paste, taking care to distribute it evenly. Reduce the heat to low and add the kale. Mix well, cover the pot, and stew the vegetables until they are tender, about 20 minutes. Add 8 cups of the water, increase the heat, and bring the soup to a boil.
4 Meanwhile, purée 3 cups of the beans and the remaining 2 cups water in a blender or food processor, adding a little water if necessary.
5 Whisk the purée into the soup and add the remaining 2 cups beans. Bring the soup back to a boil, then reduce the heat and gently simmer, uncovered, until the flavors meld, about 30 minutes.
6 Season the soup with salt and lots of pepper. At this point, the soup can be cooled and refrigerated or frozen. To serve, ladle the hot soup into bowls. Top each serving with toast, Parmigiano, pepper, thyme leaves, and a drizzle of oil.
VIGNAROLA
Vignarola comes from Rome, and comes to this book from our Italian photographer, Gabriele. He says that vignarola translates to “vineyard greens,” but because it’s composed of greens that only come up in the springtime, when the vineyards are basically dead, it’s more likely an invocation of the greengrocer, who was, in olden times, called a vignarolo.
Of course the Americans have debased it further: Rather than cooking all the vegetables individually like nonna would have, we make it as a one-pot dish. And even though we have amore for the greengrocer, we find that frozen fava beans (sold at Indian and Italian markets and sometimes Whole Foods) work just fine and can even be swapped out for edamame if that’s all you can score.
If you have a lifestyle that allows a little pig to play in the vegetable patch, seek out guanciale when you make vignarola—and know that the dish works just fine without it.
MAKES 4 MAIN-COURSE SERVINGS
2 oz guanciale, cut into ¼” pieces (optional)
4 T olive oil
3 garlic cloves, peeled
8 baby artichokes or 4 medium artichokes, cleaned and cut into ½” wedges
1 small onion, finely chopped
1½ C shucked fresh fava beans (from 1½ lb in the pod) or thawed frozen
1½ C peas, thawed if frozen
2–3 C vegetable stock or water
+ kosher salt
4 T unsalted butter
¼ C packed fresh mint leaves
1 C thinly sliced romaine or butter lettuce
1 If using the guanciale, blanch it in a small pot of simmering water for 1 minute. Drain and reserve.
2 Heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and the garlic cloves in a wide Dutch oven or deep cast iron skillet over medium heat. Let the garlic sizzle until golden, about 3 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and discard. Add the artichokes to the pot, in batches if necessary, and brown them, flipping to caramelize all sides, about 8 minutes. Transfer the artichokes to a plate.
3 Add the remaining 2 tablespoons oil to the pot and stir in the onion. After 2 minutes, when the onion is sizzling and translucent around the edges, stir in the blanched guanciale. Continue cooking until the onion and pork are browned and the guanciale is rendered, about 8 minutes longer.
4 Stir in the favas and peas. If the beans are fresh, roll them around in the onion and fat for a few minutes to get them cooking. If they were previously frozen, simply stir into the onion-pig mix along with the artichokes. When everything sizzles, pour in the stock so the vegetables are in a deep puddle but not quite submerged. Season with salt and bring to a simmer. Partially cover the stew and let it bubble for 5 to 10 minutes, until the artichokes and favas are tender. Stir in the butter and adjust the seasoning with salt as necessary. Remove from the heat and fold in the mint and lettuce. Serve warm with bread for sopping.