All of us at Oliveology love cooking with seasonal produce. Every week, we walk around the market and find the fruits and vegetables which provide the inspiration for our recipes. This week our inspiration came from fresh broad beans. These lovely green beans, belonging in the Fabaceae family are also called fava beans. However, they are not to be confused with fava (aka yellow split peas). They are in season in May in Greece, and in June they will be arriving in London. So let’s prepare!
In this very easy recipe, we slowly cooked fresh broad beans in extra virgin olive oil and served this vibrant dish with plenty of lemon and our 17C olive oil with with lemons, oranges & thyme. This recipe uses the entire pod, so do select broad beans that are young and tender. If you can’t find fresh broad beans, you can use green beans, or even peas in this recipe. Don’t forget to check out our spring recipes, especially these lemony peas.
Serves 2 with leftovers
1kg fresh broad beans
1 leek
2 spring onions
2 tbsp olive oil
500-750ml water
salt, pepper (to taste)
lemon juice, 17C olive oil (to serve)
In this recipe, we are cooking the broad beans whole. To prepare them simply trim the top and bottom and cut each bean in half, so that you have finger-sized beans.
Finely chop the leek and spring onions.
In a large heavy bottomed pot and over medium heat add the olive oil, leek and spring onions. Gently fry until translucent but not caramelised. Add the broad beans and 500ml of water. Season with salt and pepper and gently stir everything together.
Bring to the boil, then lower the heat, cover and let the broad beans cook until tender, for 30-40min, adding a bit more water if needed.
Serve with plenty of lemon juice and our 17C olive oil.
