By Bridget Ryan
Broad beans were something my father (and many of his generation) took great pride in growing BIG.
The outer pods were light green and inner skin and bean were grey/white.
We podded them out of the robust outer pod and then then boiled the beans.
There was no way to make them taste palatable or easy to chew, not our favourite.
It wasn’t till I moved to Stanthorpe and made some Italian friends that I was introduced to the wonder of broadbeans done right.
They have to be picked while the outer pod is still bright green and the beans can be anywhere from pea sized to 30mm in length.
Pod the beans and use fresh or freeze.
Ingredients:
500g Broadbeans – boil for two-three mins to soften the outer skin, cool and peel (if using young beans with bright green skins you can chop them up whole)
Two garlic cloves
Chilli – optional to taste
Olive oil
Two tbsp tomato paste (optional)
Half lemon juice
Method:
Grated parmesan cheese or feta.
• Fry garlic, chilli and broadbeans in olive oil for three minutes. Cool
• Add tomato paste and lemon juice then blend in a food processor or mash roughly.
• Mix in parmesan/feta and season with salt and pepper.
• Add more olive oil if required. To use as a dip it can be quite thick or add stock/wine/water to use as a pasta sauce.
