Broad beans are a delightful vegetable but they can have tough skins which is why many chefs try to get you to pop them out of their skins. In this recipe you can process small, young, cooked and defrosted broad beans together with a well ripened avocado to create a sublime, silky textured paste. This is such a simple idea adapted from the beautiful book ‘Simple’ by Yotam Ottolenghi. I have simplified the method, even further, by not removing all the broad beans from their pods - just a few to place on the top to finish the dish off. This recipe had the thumbs up from my chatty book club pals last night. They loved the colour and the light silky texture.
Seves 4
Ingredients
250g defrosted broad beans
1 large, ripe avocado
2 tbsp olive oil
1 lemon, juiced
salt and pepper
Method
Steam the defrosted broad beans for 5 minutes and plunge into cold water to coo. Drain and remove a tablespoon of the cooked broad beans and pop them out of their skins. Set these beans to one side.
Peel the avocado and remove the stone. Roughly chop the flesh. Place the beans and the avocado in the bowl of a food processor, together with the olive oil, half of the lemon juice and half a teaspoon of salt. Blitz this mixture until smooth. Add more lemon juice and seasoning to taste. Place the shelled broad beans on top and add some chopped dill to finish the dish. Serve with flat bread, toasted sourdough or pita bread.
