I always get excited when broad beans turn up in our weekly veg box, because they're one of the best flavours of summer for me. I'm a recent convert to the joy of the humble broad bean, and because of that I'm quite evangelical about them. They're so yummy! They key is all in the peeling. You absolutely have to pod them and then denude the beans of their strange, rubbery outer skin. That's what makes them chewy and horrible, and it also makes them prone to over-cooking, because it's harder to tell when they're perfectly al dente within that greyish bubble of skin. I agree, it is a ridiculous amount of labour for one small vegetable, but it's quite therapeutic to sit in front of the television and pod away. Try it once and you'll be an evangelical convert too, I promise.
Last night we consulted the oracle that is Nigel Slater and cooked the beans very quickly in boiling water. They only need about 2-3 minutes if you've podded them (which we've agreed, you will have. Yay!) They then got folded into some sliced garlic, which had been pan-fried until soft, a couple of good handfuls of torn fresh mint, and a pot of ricotta. This in turn got added to a panful of pasta, everything stirred through and seasoned energetically. You might find you need a fair bit of salt, to play against the bland creaminess of the ricotta. You know what else would be good? BACON. Bacon is a good addition to any pasta meal.
We finished the meal with some homemade peppermint tea, because we'd picked more than the pasta recipe needed. You just need to bash the leaves and let them steep as long as you can. Pretty perfect for a summer's evening.
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