Broad Beans

Broad beans are indisputably at their best when they are only just fully formed and the skin is a bright green colour. The pod will, at this stage, be of a regular shape and about 15 cm / 6 inches long. They may be briefly blanched in boiling salted water – say 30 seconds – but this is the only time they can be eaten raw, dressed with a little lemon juice and extra-virgin olive oil and seasoned lightly with sea salt and pepper. Both the Italians and the French prize them at this stage and it really is the only time they should be eaten with their skins on. It is the tough skin, that develops as the beans mature, which has put so many people off broad beans over the years.