I recall being quite small, tangled in the bean trellis, enormous beanstalks towering above my head, greedily snapping and eating bean after bean. It is likely I was meant to be picking beans in time for my mother to cook for supper that evening. Always the same two varieties were grown; runners were sliced on the oblique and french were topped and tailed. Steamed and served in butter, I don’t suppose there is a better vegetable.
I am not alone in my bean appreciation. Jane Grigson calls them “our greatest blessing” in her Vegetable Book and Elizabeth David remarks in her book own French Provincial Cooking: “I would as well eat a dish of tiny green beans in early summer as to go to the money and trouble that asparagus entails.”
As both a french and a runner bean enthusiast, I am reluctant to allocate a certain bean to a specific recipe. With summer under way and beans coming thick, fast and plentiful, my guess is that with enough recipes up your sleeve, you can cook your way right through the glut. And, of course, when an ingredient is in abundant supply, it is often at its most inexpensive.
Almost sweet and always verdant, beans are as delicious as they are versatile. And although I am now bigger than the bean trellis, I like it very much that my three daughters, when visiting my mother’s house, can lose themselves at the bottom of the garden, dwarfed by those very same beanstalks.
How to cook your batch of beans
You’ll need 1.7kg to make the following four recipes (1kg for the bean chutney alone). Cook your beans as soon as possible on picking or purchasing. To cook, boil in plenty of salted water for 4-6 minutes until soft, but retain a little squeak. When ready, plunge the beans into ice-cold water to help keep their bright greencolour. The salt in the water will also help to keep the beans green. Store in a sealed container in the fridge and use when needed.
The summer soup: soupe au pistou
Or Provençal minestrone, if you prefer; an ode to the season’s vegetables.
Serves 4
½ large white onion or 1 whole leek, white part only, finely diced
2 fat garlic cloves, chopped finely
2 carrots, cut into 1cm dice
1 courgette, cut into 1cm dice
3 or 4 new potatoes, peeled and cut into 1cm dice
80g orzo pasta (or similar small pasta)
2 tbsp olive oil
75g podded peas, or use frozen
500ml boiling water, chicken stock or vegetable stock
3 large ripe tomatoes, blanched and peeled, cut into 1cm dice
100g cooked runner or french beans, cut into 1cm dice
¼ lemon
1 teaspoon salt (less if you like)
For the pistou
75g parmesan, grated
50g basil leaves
½ garlic clove, minced finely
80ml olive oil
1 In a large heavy-based pan, sweat the onion or leek over a gentle heat for 5 minutes until soft and translucent. Add the garlic and carrot and cook for a further 5 or so minutes. You want this mix to be completely melting, soft and translucent, but in no way scorched.
2 Add the diced courgette and potatoes and continue cooking over a low heat until the potatoes are cooked through.
3 In a second pan of boiling water, cook the orzo according to the packet instructions. Drain and add a splash of olive oil to stop it sticking together.
4 Add the raw peas and cooked orzo to the vegetable mix. Add the hot water or stock, and finally the diced tomato and cooked beans.
5 Bring the soup to the boil, squeeze the lemon in and check for seasoning.
6 Make the pistou: put the cheese, basil and the garlic into a food processor and blitz briefly. Combine the oil in a steady stream with the processor running. Serve the soup with the pistou on the table, ready to dollop.
The light lunch: beans cooked with tomatoes and black olives
Delicious served warm at room temperature, and as an accompaniment to just about anything.
Serves 4
4 tbsp olive oil
1 red onion, finely diced
3 fat garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 tin of whole plum tomatoes
400g cooked runner or french beans
10-15 black olives, stoned and cut in half
A small bunch of oregano, parsley, basil or dill, roughly chopped
Chilli flakes (optional), to taste
Salt and black pepper, to taste
1 First make the tomato sauce. Heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a saucepan on a medium heat and add the onion. Cook until soft and translucent for about 5-8 minutes. Add the chopped garlic and continue cooking for another 2-3 minutes. Don’t let the garlic colour or go brown.
2 Add the tin of tomatoes, breaking them up with a wooden spoon, and season with salt and pepper.
3 Bring to a simmer, then turn down to a low heat and cook for about 25 minutes, stirring from time to time.
4 Add the cooked beans to the pan and heat through thoroughly in the tomato sauce. Remove the pan from the heat and add the black olives, herbs, remaining olive oil and chilli flakes if using. Check for seasoning.
The quick condiment: bean chutney
This recipe comes from my mum, who makes the very best chutneys.
Makes approximately 6 x 450g jars
800ml malt vinegar
1kg cooked runner or french beans, cut into 1cm pieces
5 medium white onions, finely diced
800g demerara sugar
1½ tbsp cornflour
1½ tbsp turmeric
1 tbsp dried mustard powder
1 tbsp salt
1 Put the vinegar, the cooked beans, the onions and the sugar into a large saucepan and cook for 15 minutes over a medium heat.
2 In a separate bowl, mix the cornflour, turmeric, salt and mustard to a paste with a tablespoon of water.
3 Add the paste to the beans and continue to cook for a further 10 minutes until the chutney has thickened to a desirable consistency.
4 Bottle the chutney in clean sterilised jars and keep for at least a week before using to give the flavours time to mature and meld.
The simple supper: bean, turmeric and gram flour pancakes
Mixed with water, gram (or chickpea) flour makes a great batter to fry with the green beans into these thin, crisp pancakes. Along with their wholesome reputation, the chickpeas give the batter a crisp texture and a lovely earthy flavour. This is a versatile recipe that I urge you to experiment with.
Makes 6
450ml cold water
250g gram flour, sifted
1 tsp salt, more to taste if needed
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp garam masala
3 tbsp vegetable oil, to fry
200g french or runner beans, cooked
3 green chillies, deseeded and sliced finely (optional)
1 bunch spring onions, trimmed and sliced on the oblique
2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
2 tsp onion seeds
2 tsp mustard seeds
To serve
Lemon or lime wedges
Seasoned garlic yoghurt
Indian pickles
1 Whisk the cold water into the gram flour and beat until smooth, then allow the mix to rest for at least 30 minutes while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
2 Add 1 teaspoon of salt, turmeric and garam masala to the batter.
3 Heat half a tablespoon of the oil in a nonstick pan over a high heat and add a sixth of the beans, chilli, spring onion, garlic, onion and mustard seeds. Fry the ingredients in the pan quickly, then give the pan a good shake to spread the ingredients out and evenly pour over a sixth of the batter.
4 Allow to cook and colour nicely for about 2 minutes. Using a spatula, gently flip the pancake over and cook on the other side for a further 2 minutes over a moderate heat. Keep the pancakes warm in a low oven.
5 Repeat with the remaining batter and ingredients and serve immediately with wedges of lime or lemon, seasoned garlic yoghurt and Indian pickles.
