Salsa Marò (or Fava Bean Sauce)

Salsa Marò is an recipe from the impoverished interior of Liguria, the coastal region of northwestern Italy. The Mediterranean coastline is rightly known as the Italian Riviera, but the further you get from the coast, the less food the mountainous land produces.

Salsa Marò is nowadays mostly seen as a beautiful, bright green "pesto," but this thick sauce was traditionally used to enhance simple dishes made with inexpensive red meat. Some recipes add anchovies, which certainly adds a spicy touch. It doesn't contain nuts, so 'pesto' isn't the correct name for the sauce—it's more like pistou from the adjacent French Provence, which is also nut-free.

The meaning of maró also indicates that things weren't always rosy in Liguria. Maró means 'ordinary seaman', the lowest rank on board and therefore invariably the worst paid.

Try the sauce on a slice of toasted baguette or bruschetta and serve it with roast meat or grilled oily fish.

Ingredients:
- 500 grams broad beans in the pod (about 100 grams after peeling, cooking, and peeling)
- One large garlic clove (finely chopped)
- Six large mint leaves (finely chopped)
- 20 grams pecorino cheese (finely grated)
- 75 millilitres extra virgin olive oil (for thickening)
- A pinch of salt How to prepare:
- Crush the garlic and the cooked, peeled beans in a mortar or blender to form a coarse paste.
- Add the mint, pecorino cheese, and salt and stir gently. Finally, gradually add the olive oil, stirring constantly, until the pesto reaches the desired consistency.
- Refrigerate for an hour to allow the flavours to meld.

Source (partly).