The first broad beans are ready!

The first broad beans are ready in the garden, and we are looking forward to a great summer of eating freshly-picked food. It’s the perfect time to plant a few tomato plants or a tray of salad greens if you haven’t got green fingers, or a whole garden of produce if you have. I am planting lettuce, tomatoes, sweetcorn, eggplant, capsicums, beans, zuchini and cucumbers.

But let’s get back to broad beans…

I love the tenderness of the early ones; the skins aren’t too thick and they cook in just a few minutes…The first meal was couscous, fresh mint, spring onions and broad beans served warm with some salmon on the side. Delicious!

And the next recipe using broad beans? A bit of research has given me some great ideas:

> Cook pasta and add asparagus, peas and broad beans for the last few minutes of cooking. Drain, stir in some cream, a squeeze of lemon and fresh tarragon.

> Make pesto. Use 330g of cooked broad beans, fry off 2 cloves garlic & 3 anchovy fillets, then blitz up with 25g parmesan and a squeeze of lemon juice.

> Make quesadillas. Put a soft tortilla in a lightly-oiled hot frying pan, and add some grated cheese. Once the cheese has melted, add slivers of cooked steak, cooked broad beans, jalapenos and tomato on half only. Heat through, fold the tortilla in half and flip it over to cook on the other side. Cut into wedges and serve.