What’s Cookin’ this Spring from my Roman garden, and from the nearby woods 🌿

+ What to know about some of these unusual veggies

If there’s a dish that is a celebration of spring and tastes just like spring in a dish then it's Vignarola. Prepare Vignarola at the magical moment when winter turns to spring and artichokes are still in season but you’re heralding the arrival of fresh spring peas and fava beans.

Vignarola is a Roman dish made with spring peas, fava beans (broad beans),  artichokes, sliced green onions and Romaine lettuce.

In the Roman countryside, locals often add mentuccia – calamint – a wild Roman mint that grows all over the fields in Lazio. 

This dish is quintessentially Roman, although lots of other areas of Italy now make it.

It’s a vegetarian dish, but you can also add some umami-rich pancetta or guanciale to the dish; I love it both ways.

Serve Vignarola as a vegetable side dish, or use it as a topping on bruschetta, or on pasta. I love it served with a ricotta stuffed ravioli.

Perhaps you’re thinking you can't make the recipe because you don't have access to fresh artichokes, spring peas, and fa…