This is a classic combination of Italian spring vegetables, but it’s also a template for stewing any fresh veggies you like in olive oil. If you cannot get small artichokes—those so small they have no choke, so you can simply trim and quarter them—use frozen artichoke hearts. If you cannot get favas, use limas; here, too, frozen are okay, and the same with peas. This stew makes a good sauce for cut pasta, like penne. Other vegetables you can prepare this way: This is nearly a universal recipe; almost anything you can think of will work here, from spinach to potatoes to asparagus, as long as you adjust the cooking time accordingly. Mix and match as you like.

　　

Ingredients

makes 4 servings

　　1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

　　4 spring onions, trimmed and quartered, or 12 scallions, trimmed and cut into 2- or 3-inch lengths

　　4 to 8 baby artichokes, trimmed of any hard parts and cut into quarters or eighths

　　1 cup fresh small fava or lima beans

　　1 cup shelled fresh peas

　　Salt and black pepper to taste

　　1/2 cup chicken stock, preferably homemade (page 160), or as needed

　　1 fresh tarragon sprig, optional

　　

Step 1

Put the oil in a large skillet or flameproof casserole with a lid over medium heat. Add the onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until wilted, 5 to 10 minutes; do not let the onions brown. One at a time, add the remaining vegetables; in each instance, cook, stirring, for about a minute. Add some salt and pepper, the stock, and, if you’re using it, the tarragon. Turn the heat to low, cover, and adjust the heat so the mixture simmers gently.

　　

Step 2

Cook, uncovering and stirring every 10 minutes or so and adding a little more liquid if needed, until the vegetables are completely tender, at least 30 minutes more but quite likely 45. Taste and adjust the seasoning, then serve hot or at room temperature.

　　The Best Recipes in the World by Mark Bittman. © 2005 by Mark Bittman. Published by Broadway Books. All Rights Reserved.MARK BITTMAN is the author of the blockbuster The Best Recipes in the World (Broadway, 2005) and the classic bestseller How to Cook Everything, which has sold more than one million copies. He is also the coauthor, with Jean-Georges Vongerichten, of Simple to Spectacular and Jean-Georges: Cooking at Home with a Four-Star Chef. Mr. Bittman is a prolific writer, makes frequent appearances on radio and television, and is the host of The Best Recipes in the World, a 13-part series on public television. He lives in New York and Connecticut.