vignarola

It's wonderful, but you'll rarely see it in restaurants. Vignarola is the spring dish of Rome, Lazio and parts of Tuscany. It uses the primizie, the first fresh ingredients available: absolutely necessary are fava beans, baby Roman artichokes and peas, with maybe a little bit of romaine lettuce, asparagus and onion, maybe prosciutto (or pancetta) or lemon for flavour.

Vignarola can be served as a simple soup or on top of pasta. Some say the dish's name comes from the early vegetables country people would plant between the rows of vines. A similar dish in Sicily is called frittella.