Having recently acquired a garden, my in-laws by proxy have been encouraging my enthusiasm by kindly turning up on our doorstep bearing gifts of geraniums, tomato plants and packets of salad leaf seeds etc. Having noted my enthusiasm, but also my lack of any actual real gardening, they have tried to introduce me gently into the world of horticulture and greens by supplying idiot proof starter crops. So far we have produced a bumper pot of mixed lettuce leaves, and I haven’t killed the rosemary yet. The tomato and courgette plants are mere fledglings still…
Father-in-law by proxy has his own allotment, so I’m confident he can teach me all I need to know. In the meantime, they arrived with a bag of freshly picked broad beans yesterday, which I wanted to eat straight away to savour their freshness. There is no need for fussiness… the broad beans are the focus and shouldn’t be overwhelmed. This is what I had in the fridge. You could use any other ham but I think parma works best – it’s lean and fragrant. Simple and gorgeous, but the quality of the ingredients is paramount. Especially the oil, which can make or break this dish.
Serves 2
Ingredients
- About 12 broad beans (or as many as you are lucky to receive and you fancy eating)
- 6 slices of Parma ham
- Parmesan – a good quality aged cheese such as stocked by Coriander deli in Hove
- A nice fruity extra virgin olive oil
- Lemon
Method
Bring a small pan of water to the boil. In the meantime, pod the beans. Put them into the pan and cook at a fast simmer for about 3 mins, then drain in a colander and run some cold water over them to stop the cooking process and cool them down. Once cool enough to touch pop the beans out of their skins. If you have particularly young beans you don’t necessarily need to do this tedious task, but I think the dish looks prettier if you do.
Arrange the slices of ham on two plates, pile the beans on top (a great colour combination) and shave over plenty of parmesan. I use a peeler to do this (oxo are the best make- can’t recommend them enough).
Then drizzle with the oil and squeeze over lemon to taste. Finally grind some black pepper on the loosest setting so there’s some nice big chunks of pepper to bite into.
This makes a great starter with a lovely, crisp, dry glass of white wine. A cold dry sherry would also work well.
If you’re not above buying a boxed wine, El Prado would make a perfect partner to this bean dish of Becky’s. This is my house red. Think full-bodied, dark fruited, ever so slightly spicy, very Spanish and not box wine material at all. It’s a smooth Tempranillo/Cabernet blend that is divine, especially at £15.99 for three litres (at Ocado). Plus there’s the comedy value of the trickle noise it makes as I disappear into the cupboard under my stairs with another empty glass.