Broad beans on toast, double green crostini or smashed broad bean and pea bruschetta – this is a legendary dish in my house.
Broad beans bruschetta - a legendary dish
I wish I could say this recipe was mine. But no: it wholly and truly belongs to The Weather Man.
One summer day several years ago, The Weather Man cooked a meal for my birthday. The main course was delicious, but it is the memory of the starter that lingers and, often mentioned, has become a legend.
Signature dish
Heston Blumenthal will always have his snail porridge, René Redzepi – his live shrimp and The Weather Man goes down in our family history as the creator of the broad bean and peas bruschetta.
Modestly, as is his nature, he attributes his dish to one of The Times weekend supplements or perhaps BBC Good Food but I’m certain it was the other way round: word of his broad beans spread and inspired other chefs. Especially that the main ingredient of the recipe was actually grown by The Man himself in our back garden.
Joking aside, he did indeed follow a Jamie Oliver’s recipe but for me this will always be his dish. And finally I have managed to replicate it here, as best I remembered.
Know your broad beans
Time for a mundane note on broad beans: they are at their best when new and young, as are most vegetables. The skins are bright green (sometimes pink depending on a variety), the stem (epicotyl) is green and present on the bean and the beans inside the skins are vibrant and firm rather than pale and starchy.
Overgrown mature broad beans are really only good for mashing into the Egyptian Foul Mudammas.
Shell? Pod? Or double-pod broad beans?
Broad beans live in pods, a family of four, five or six, but when they're out of the pods, they still wear their skins. A cheffy thing (and mine too sometimes) is to double-shell them: out of the pods and into the boiling water, then the laborious process of extracting them from the skins, in restaurants no doubt performed by the lowest in the kitchen brigade.
But at home, and when baby new, they don’t really need the double-shelling process. Eaten as a snack, which is my favourite way, I leave them in their skins and I eat the smaller tender ones whole, skin and all (that's where the fibre is, you see), and pop the bigger ones out if the skin is a tad tougher.
On the other hand when fresh and small, they almost jump out of their skins when blanched for a couple of minutes so it isn’t quite such a chore as you might imagine. And it pays to see the bright vibrant kidney-shaped greenies when using them in salads instead of dull grey floppy skins.
Bruschetta building
Double-shelling done, it's an easy affair. Broad beans and blanched or thawed peas should be very lightly crushed with a fork, then seasoned with fresh flavours of garlic, lemon and fresh herbs. Some grated Parmesan or Pecorino is there to hold the topping together and give it some umami.
Then it's just the matter of toasting the best bread you can get (or make), topping the slices and drizzling with lots of very good olive oil. What a treat!
Broad beans, peas and how to pronounce bruschetta
Whether you call it bruschetta, crostini or even beans on toast which they are after a fashion, it is one thing you should try every broad bean season. The peas are perfectly fine to use frozen as they are a bit player here. But beans must be the best and freshest, and if you’re really lucky like me, straight from your back garden.
And the final comment: it's 'broo-SKET-ah', not 'brushetta'. The latter is sort of correct if you're in Spain and order a meat skewer.
More broad bean recipes
Crushed broad beans with garlic, mint and dill are a perfect summery side dish, and the best use of the larger, mature, late season beans.
Persian rice with broad beans, baghali polo, is fragrant, green and yellow with dill and saffron. It’s a classic Iranian side dish for lamb shanks but who cares about lamb? Baghali polo is all you will want.
More summer lunch recipes
Corn on the cob with tahini butter: steamed to perfection in the microwave in only 2 minutes, slathered with the topping of tahini butter, that’s the easiest and the tastiest ear of sweetcorn you’ll ever have tried!
Courgette flowers (fiori di zuccha) in light batter, shallow fried in olive oil with a touch of mint inside each blossom. It’s pan-fried poetry!
A simple and exquisite starter made with fresh melon and smoked salmon, with a drizzle of balsamic and a sprinkling of fresh mint. Gorgeous! Even if salmon is not home cured.