All posts tagged: broad beans

Spicy Sausage and Broad Bean (fava) Pasta

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Broad beans are also known as fava beans and though I didn’t plant any this year, someone at work brought in bounty of beans so I squirreled some home. I’m not much of a gardener so I need encouragement or inspiration to grow things. The low yield for work of fava beans turned me off growing them but if it’s free, I’ll take it! Like most households, we always have a few bags of pasta in stock. Actually, right now we have four varieties of pasta. A 500 gram (1 pound) bag of spaghetti should feed five people, but I always cook half a bag of spaghetti which equals to 250 grams. We always get a portion of leftovers for my lunch the next day and I figure a free lunch is good. We’re a two person household so splitting a bag into five portions is nonsensical to me. I used spaghetti, but use whatever pasta shape you like. The sauce is thick and robust and will stick to any pasta like glue. There’s nothing watery …

First fava harvest!

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Our fava beans or broadbeans are finally ready for a small harvest. I knew that the first thing I wanted to cook with these would be something simple and delicately flavoured to compliment beans. A creamy prawn and rice concoction was just the ticket. I wrote this recipe down first, then cooked it and made a couple of adjustments. With the price of frozen prawns these days, I consider this dish to be suitable for a gourmet pauper. Fava pods bursting with potential. Shelled and waiting to be blanched. Not much meat from those pods. A sexy close up… Creamy Rice with Fava and Prawn Serves 2 Ingredients 1 cup shelled fresh fava (broadbeans) 1 cup whole shelled prawns or prawn meat, defrosted 4 garlic cloves 1/2 cup cream 1 and 1/2 cups long grain rice 1/3 cup white wine 1 cup chicken stock Butter Salt Black pepper 1 lemon Handful of fresh herbs, chopped Preparation Quickly fry the prawns in a little butter until just done. Remove from heat and set aside. Cook the …

Broadbean shoots

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Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall on broad beans: The top few centimetres of growth on the main stems of your broad beans need to be pinched out anyway when their flowers are just starting to wilt, to stop the plant growing any taller and help it pod up. These “pinchings” have a lovely leguminous flavour – delicious as a side veg just lightly steamed and tossed in butter, and perfect in an omelette or tart. But you can also grow bean shoots “to order”, harvesting when a few inches high. I’m growing broad beans at the moment in the filing cabinet planter that we upcycled. No actual beans as yet and I finally got round to tying them up so they stand nice and tall. So I thought, what they hell, might as well eat some pinchings. What’s good enough for Hugh is good enough for us! It’s kinda funny how the landlord leaves a bit of long grass around the planter, so that you can’t see the faces of the painted rabbits, only their ears. Brussels sprouts, cauli flower …