Broad beans gravitate towards pork, and are often found mingling with bacon and luxurious hams like pancetta. Vegetarian beans like a bit of wine and butter, and maybe a sprinkling of parsley or mint. Baby beans are boiled for 5 minutes and eaten with the skin on, but older ones like to cook more, then have skins peeled. Try this: toss cooked broad beans, boiled potatoes and pasta, and some green pesto in a pan, then drizzle them with olive oil and sprinkle with some hard cheese.
Lightly fry the onion and garlic in the oil in a large pan. Add the spices and cook gently until the onin has become tender. Stir in the rice and cook for another minute. Add 600 ml of water, season with salt and pepper to taste and bring to the boil. Next add the broad beans and reduce the pan to a simmer. Cover and leave for 10 minutes. After this time add the prawns and then leave for another 5–10 minutes, or until the rice has become tender and the liquid has been absorbed. Add more hot water to the pot during cooking if necessary. Stir in the coriander and adjust the seasoning.
Serves 4
Place a large pot over medium heat. Add a splash of olive oil. Once hot, add the onion and gently sauté for 10-15 minutes. Add the risotto rice and let it crackle and pop in the pan for a few minutes. Splash in the wine and let it bubble up until the rice has guzzled it up.
Add a good grinding of pepper, a pinch of sea salt and your first ladle of stock. Set a timer for 10 minutes and continue to feed the stock. Add the broad beans after the timer goes off. Set it for 10 minutes more, and ladle the stock in and stir every few minutes. Fold in the lemon juice and zest and mascarpone or goat's cheese. Taste. Season as needed. Serve with herbs and Parmesan dusted over the top.
Cook the broad beans. Drain well and place in a bowl with the sliced mushrooms. Prepare the dressing by mixing together the olive oil and wine vinegar. Season with the salt, pepper and sugar. Stir the vinaigrette through and toss. Transfer to a serving dish and chill briefly. Serve sprinkled with the herbs.
Steam the broad beans for 5–6 minutes and then rinse immediately — this will keep their bright green colour. Cut the rind from the bacon and dice. Put a little water in a pan and fry gently for a while then turn up the heat and fry until crisp. Toss the beans, bacon and mushrooms together in a bowl. Blend the ingredients for the dressing together and then pour over the salad. Garnish with chopped fresh herbs if desired.
Broad beans are delicious combined with these flavours. Other good additions would be roast peppers. Serves 2–3.
Put the beans in boiling water for 3–4 minutes until tender. Drain well and put into a bowl. Mix together the oil, vinegar and mint and stir into the hot beans. When the beans have cooled to room temperature, mix in the cubed Feta and serve.
Serves 2 as a side dish.
Cook the broad beans in boiling salted water for 2 minutes. Drain and cool. Peel and discard the outer skins. Heat the oil in a large frying pan over a medium–high heat. Add the onion and sauté for 5 minutes. Add the broad beans and bacon and sauté for a further 5 minutes. Add the stock and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, and simmer for 15 minutes, or until the broad beans are tender. Add lemon juice and season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Fast and perfect for busy days and nights - you can add or substitute with fennel or lightly sautéed courgettes. Serves 4 as a main dish.
Fill a large pot with water and bring it to the boil. Drop in the broad beans and cook for 3 minutes then remove them with a slotted spoon and rinse them under cold water. Remove the skins, drop the beans back into the boiling water, and cook them for about 3 minutes, until tender. Turn the oven on to a low heat, for warming food. Remove the broad beans to a large bowl, and keep the bowl warm in the oven. Drop the potatoes into the pot and boil until just done. Remove them with a slotted spoon and add to the bowl of beans. Add the pasta to the boiling water and cook until tender. Add pasta to the bowl and toss in the pesto, adding some cooking liquid if the mixture looks dry. Serve in bowls with a sprinkling of cheese and pine nuts.
A delicious meal with crusty bread; or the perfect side to sausages or lamb, and rice pilaf! Serves 2-4.
Blanch broad beans in a medium saucepan of boiling salted water 3 minutes; transfer to a bowl of ice water and peel the skin off the beans. Drain. Place the broad beans, peas, olive oil and mint in a large frying pan. Place over medium heat and cook, stirring, until warmed through, about 3 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Place the cherry tomatoes in the bottom of a large bowl, and pour the bean mixture on top; cover and set aside. Heat a large non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Add the halloumi pieces and fry until golden, about 1 minute per side. Add the cheese into the salad, squeeze over some lemon juice, toss to combine, and serve.
There’s a lovely dish, or more a tradition or food philosophy, on the Mediterranean island of Malta called ‘Hobz biz-zeit’. Literally translated, it means ‘bread and oil’, but really it means to enjoy the simple pleasures, to leave good quality, seasonal food alone – just eat it as is. A woman named Pippa Mattei introduced me to ‘Hobz biz-zeit’ a few summer’s ago, a time when the lemons where plump with sweet juice (she made lemonade with them – simply lemon juice, water and a tiny bit of sugar) and we drank it with the most intensely-flavoured tomatoes I’d ever eaten, a pinch of local sea salt and freshly pressed olive oil, bread that had just come out of the brick oven of the local bakery. So, to her, ‘Hobz’ (as she called it), was a gathering of fine ingredients to be enjoyed with friends in the sunshine. So, here’s my Abel & Cole-inspired version of Pippa’s Hobz for you to enjoy this week. Serves 4
That’s it. Simply present the ingredients beautifully (bread on a wooden cutting board, tomatoes in a lovely bowl, broad beans draped next to the bread loaf and the bottle of olive oil and pot of sea salt to tempt you into drizzling and sprinkling) and tuck in. and, a note on the broad bean – pull from the pod, remove the rather thick coat on each bean and eat the delicious, pretty morsel inside – a bit like you would eat edamame in a Japanese restaurant.
This recipe was invented when pesto was demanded and the Abel & Cole store cupboard was bare of pinenuts. A bundle of broad beans fell out of the fridge and voilà, this greener than green pesto was born.
Serves 2-4 as a dip or a pasta negligee.
Slip the broad beans out of their little skins - this is the bit after you've popped them out of their pods (get the children to help).
Tip all the ingredients into a food processor or blender and give it a few pulses until it all comes together, adding more olive oil as needed. That's it.
Splash a glug of oil over the top and it will stay perky for a day or so. It's perfect on pasta, used as a dressing for salads or as a dip.
Sleep the beans out of their fuzzy duffle coat like pods and into this tangy dress.
Serves 2 as side or light main.
Get a little pot of boiling water on the go. Pop the broad beans in for a minute or two. Drain. Run under cold water to cool them down and then pop the lime green beans out of their skins.
Whisk the honey, oil, vinegar, lemon juice and soy sauce together. Add a touch of chilli, if you like.
Tear the mozzarella balls in half. Scatter the broad beans and a few leaves over the top. Drizzle the honey balsamic dressing over the top. Serve with pasta or a big wedge of bread.
Makes 2 big bowls and 4 smaller bowls.
Place the broad beans, garlic and stock in a sauce pan. Simmer until the beans are tender. Blitz in a food processor, blender or with one of those magic wand-style hand blenders. Stir in the lemon juice, zest and pesto. Season to your liking. Swirl a bit of crème fraîche or cream through, if you fancy. Voilà. A super summer soup is served.
pst. The soup should be pretty smooth but if you want it really sauve, pass it through a sieve.
Did you know that you can cook (and eat) those furry little sleeping bag covers for your broad beans? A chef tipped us off on this one. They're delicious - just as anything that is fried and dusted with salt is. Your compost bin may started feeling deprived, though.
Tear the broad bean pods along their seam. Trim any string sides off. Cut each pod half into 3-4cm pieces - if you do this at a diagonally angle it looks fancier. Place in a large shallow bowl or on a plate. Season it well. Place the milk in a separate bowl, much the same sizes.
Dredge the trimmed pods through the flour. Dip in the milk. Dredge through the flour again. You can deep or shallow fry them. Do this until golden. Let them cool slightly. You can eat them like this, but if you want them extra crispy, give them one more dip in the hot oil. They're extra morish this way. Dust with salt and serve. Delicious on their own. Also very yummy with a dip like our sticky Red Chilli Jam.