Broad Bean Fritters | Vegetables Recipes | Jamie Oliver Recipes (2024)

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Broad Bean Fritters | Vegetables Recipes | Jamie Oliver Recipes? ›

Spicy broad bean fritters with lemon minted yoghurt

Simply finely slice at an angle, mix with any young bright green beans you have that don't need peeling, then dress in extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice, sea salt and black pepper. Get yourself a plate, arrange some slices of prosciutto over it in waves, then pile the dressed beans on top.

Broad beans can be eaten complete with their greeny-grey skins, but they're much nicer and prettier double podded to reveal the bright green jewels inside.

To prepare your fresh fava beans, you have to soak them to loosen the protective outer layer: pour 10 cups of water into a pot for every pound of beans, and let them soak overnight to loosen their outer layers. As an alternative, you can boil the beans for three minutes and then let them soak in hot water for one hour.

Rich in fibre

With around 9g of fibre with every cup, broad beans are not only great for your digestive system but can provide a full feeling with fewer calories, aiding weight loss. There are also studies that suggest the water-soluble fibre in broad beans can help to lower cholesterol as part of a healthy lifestyle.

Cook them quickly with a bit of citric acid (lemon juice) in the broth… Drop them in boiling water versus starting with a cold pot…. Quickly convert the starches to sugars and denatures the bitter components…

Broad beans are divided into three basic types - dwarf, long-pod and Windsor. Dwarf broad beans are typically considered best-suited to exposed sites, long-pod to early sowing and Windsor types thought best for flavour.

It is caused by a deficiency of the enzyme glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase, and worldwide affects 400 million people, mainly of Mediterranean, African and Middle Eastern descent. On contact with broad bean products, susceptible individuals suffer a severe reaction, resulting in haemolytic anaemia.

Pinch out the tips of plants to prevent blackfly, and stake taller varieties to stop them collapsing under the weight of the beans. Harvest when the pods are just 6cm long, for the most tender beans. More on growing broad beans: Allotment year planner.

Dried fava beans are also known as field beans, horse beans or even tic beans (a name for the very smallest varieties). In US English however the name fava refers to fresh broad beans, infamously washed down with Italian wine.

What happens if you don't rinse beans before cooking? ›

Canned beans are packed in a solution of water, salt, and starch. That solution can leave a glossy film on the beans, interfering with not only mouthfeel (slimy beans are a little off-putting), but also the ability of the beans to cling to other ingredients in the dish and absorb those flavors.

How to store broad beans. Keep in a perforated bag in the fridge for up to five days. Blanched beans can be frozen and stored for up to three months if you have a glut.

Boil a pot of unsalted water and add 4 large handfuls of broad beans. Boil them for a couple of mins. Drain and lay them flat on a tray to cool just a little – this salad tastes best if eaten when the beans are still warm. Place in a bowl and drizzle the juice of 1 lemon plus three times as much olive oil.

Before planting, soak your seeds in a glass of water overnight. The broad bean, much like regular beans and peas, has the ability to hold moisture that will aid its germination. A soaking will help increase its reserve as well as reveal any unviable seeds. Those that float to the surface should be discarded.

Soak your seeds for at least 12 hours before planting, I add a pinch of Epsom Salts to the water to speed up germination. Plant the seeds about 5cm deep, 15cm apart in double rows about 20cm between and 80cm between sets of double rows.