How to cook broad beans

Preparation

Broad beans are one of the most delicious spring vegetables, like delicate little green sweets, but you've got to get them out of the wrapper first. Open up the pods and push the beans out with your thumb. 

Cooking

Size matters. If your beans are two centimetres long or less, you can eat them raw or cook them for a minute in boiling water. If they are longer than that, it's best to boil them for two to four minutes until tender, run them under cold water, and then pop them out of their grey-green skins. Why bother? Because it's the difference between eating them because they're good for you, and eating them because they're delicious. 

Flavour combinations

Broad beans are tasty in their own right. Try substituting them for peas in your favourite recipes. However, they go particularly well with cheese (especially goat's cheese), bacon (or any preserved pork), lemon and fresh herbs including mint, parsley and coriander. 

Recipes

Only got a few beans? Can't be bothered to peel them? Got far too many? Never fear, there is a recipe for you...

Broad bean and feta frittata

This Valentine Warner recipe is quick, tasty and really highlights the delicate sweetness of the beans.This is the one to go for if you don't fancy too much peeling. You can use fewer beans than the recipe suggests, and you only need to peel them if they’re really tough. If you’re pushed for time, cut out the onions. 

Broad bean and pea risotto
A really delicious and comforting spring recipe from Brighton and Hove Food Partnership. There's something very therapeutic about stirring a risotto. As an added bonus, this is a great recipe if you don't have that many beans. You can just make up the numbers by adding extra peas. 

Broad beans on toast

An excellent alternative to baked beans. This River Cottage recipe is very simple - just beans, bacon, and spring onion piled onto toast. If you don’t have any spring onion, you could use a clove of garlic instead. This is most enjoyable when the beans are young, tender and don’t need to be peeled. 

Broad bean hummus 

This Nigel Slater recipe is a good way to use up a glut of larger beans. He suggests using dill to flavour the hummus, but you could also use mint or coriander. It is worth peeling the beans so that you get a lovely, bright green colour and a really bean-y flavour. But if you don't bother, it'll still taste good.