Vignarola (Roman Spring Stew)

From the garden

• 3 lb fava beans in the pod, shelled · about 2 cups of shelled beans
• 4 small small artichokes, trimmed to the heart and quartered
• 1½ cups shelled peas · from about 1.5 lb of pods, or frozen
• 6 spring onions or scallions, cut into 1-inch lengths
• ¼ cup fresh mint, leaves torn

From the pantry

• ⅓ cup olive oil · a generous hand is part of the dish
• ½ cup dry white wine
• 1 cup vegetable stock · water works too
• 1 lemon · half for the artichoke water, half squeezed over at the end
• crusty bread (optional) · for serving
• salt · to taste
• black pepper

1. Fill a bowl with cold water and squeeze in half the lemon. Trim each artichoke hard: snap off the tough outer leaves, cut away the top third, peel the stem, halve, scoop out any hairy choke, quarter, and drop the pieces into the lemon water.
2. Shell the favas, boil them 1 minute in salted water, and cool them under cold water. Pinch the beans out of their pale skins unless they are thumbnail small and tender, in which case leave them whole.
3. Warm the olive oil in a wide pot over medium heat and cook the spring onions with a pinch of salt until soft and sweet, about 5 minutes. Add the drained artichokes and turn them in the oil for 3 minutes.
4. Pour in the wine, let it bubble hard for a minute, then add the stock. Cover and braise over low heat 10 minutes, until a knife meets no resistance at the thickest part of an artichoke.
5. Add the peas and favas, cover, and cook 5 to 8 minutes more. Vignarola is meant to be soft and melting rather than crisp-tender, so let them go past bright green if they want to.
6. Stir in the mint off the heat, season with salt, pepper, and a squeeze of the remaining lemon, and rest 10 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature with bread for the oily juices at the bottom.