Bean and Courgette Salad
by Nigella. Featured in NIGELLA SUMMERIntroduction
While I think of this as a salad, you might consider it simply a vegetable dish served at room temperature. No matter: it’s a glorious summer dish whichever way you look at it: green and yellow courgettes/zucchini, cut into batons, oil-dressed and oven-roasted; jade-glowing broad beans/fava beans and deep emerald fine beans, both lightly boiled then refreshed in a bowl of icy water to keep their verdant intensity. It's a recipe that sings of summer and, indeed, is adapted, with a few changes, from my book, Nigella Summer!
If you can’t get yellow courgettes/zucchini, simply use all green ones. I am stricter when it comes to the broad beans: you really need to shell the beans as well as pop them out of their pods. It’s not actually hard. Once you’ve plunged the drained cooked beans into icy water, and left them there for five minutes before draining them again, you’ll find it easy — and rather satisfying — to squeeze them out of their tough skins. When I use frozen broad beans — which I often do — I defrost them in a bowl of hot water, then shell them before cooking them very briefly along with the fine green beans, and I then just drain them both and plunge them into a bowl of iced water for a minute or so.
Should you have any left over, cook some pasta, drain it, warm the beans and courgettes gently with a little olive oil in the pan you've cooked the pasta in and then add the pasta to the vegetables and stir to combine, along with some grated parmesan.
For US cup measures, use the toggle at the top of the ingredients list.
While I think of this as a salad, you might consider it simply a vegetable dish served at room temperature. No matter: it’s a glorious summer dish whichever way you look at it: green and yellow courgettes/zucchini, cut into batons, oil-dressed and oven-roasted; jade-glowing broad beans/fava beans and deep emerald fine beans, both lightly boiled then refreshed in a bowl of icy water to keep their verdant intensity. It's a recipe that sings of summer and, indeed, is adapted, with a few changes, from my book, Nigella Summer!
If you can’t get yellow courgettes/zucchini, simply use all green ones. I am stricter when it comes to the broad beans: you really need to shell the beans as well as pop them out of their pods. It’s not actually hard. Once you’ve plunged the drained cooked beans into icy water, and left them there for five minutes before draining them again, you’ll find it easy — and rather satisfying — to squeeze them out of their tough skins. When I use frozen broad beans — which I often do — I defrost them in a bowl of hot water, then shell them before cooking them very briefly along with the fine green beans, and I then just drain them both and plunge them into a bowl of iced water for a minute or so.
Should you have any left over, cook some pasta, drain it, warm the beans and courgettes gently with a little olive oil in the pan you've cooked the pasta in and then add the pasta to the vegetables and stir to combine, along with some grated parmesan.
For US cup measures, use the toggle at the top of the ingredients list.
Ingredients
Serves: 4-6
- 500 grams green courgettes
- 500 grams yellow courgette (or green if yellow not available)
- approx. 5 tablespoons (75ml) extra virgin olive oil
- 1 kilogram fresh broad beans or 250g/2 cups frozen
- 200 grams fine or extra fine green beans
- 1 unwaxed lemon
- 1 teaspoon Maldon sea salt flakes or ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- bunch of fresh basil
- bunch of fresh flatleaf parsley
- 1 pound green zucchini
- 1 pound yellow squash (or green if yellow not available)
- ⅓ cup (75ml) extra virgin olive oil
- 2 pounds fresh fava beans or 250g/2 cups frozen
- 8 ounces fine or extra slender green beans
- 1 unwaxed lemon
- 1 teaspoon soft sea salt flakes or ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- bunch of fresh basil
- bunch of fresh italian parsley
Method
- Preheat the oven to 200°C/180º Fan/400°F.
- Cut all the courgettes, unpeeled, into chunky batons approx. 7cm/3 inches long; if you're using yellow courgettes make these into slightly chunkier batons than the green ones. Arrange them in a large roasting tin (I use one of 44 x 34cm / 17 x 13 inches) so they’re not all on top of one another and coat them well with 4 tablespoons (60ml)/ quarter cup of the oil. Frankly, the best way to do this is to pour the oil over and then smoosh everything about in the tin with your hands. Stick the tin in the oven and roast the courgettes for 20-30 minutes, until cooked through and beginning to turn golden at the edges. You can get on with the beans once the tin’s in the oven (see step 3) but once the courgettes are ready, take the tin out of the oven, and immediately finely grate/zest the lemon directly over them, and sprinkle with a teaspoon of sea salt flakes (or a scant half teaspoon of fine sea salt). Leave to cool.
- While this is going on, cook the podded fresh broad beans (see intro if you're using frozen broad beans) and topped and tailed fine beans (I do them each separately) in salted boiling water until tender; the broad beans should need no more than a couple of minutes and the fine beans around 7, but do check as there are many variables influencing the timings. Drain them both and then plunge them in iced water, in two separate bowls. The fine beans will need no more than a minute in the iced water, so drain them again. Leave the broad beans in for five minutes, and then shell them, squeezing the bright green beans out of their thick grey overcoats.
- When the courgettes are cool, put them in a large dish with the two beans and dress them with lemon juice and, if needed, the final tablespoonful of olive oil. Tear the basil, leaving any small leaves whole, and chop the parsley and add them both to the bowl, mixing everything gently (again, just hands is easiest) to avoid squashing the courgette batons.
- Check the seasoning and add salt and pepper as needed, decant into a serving dish and sprinkle over whatever bits of basil and parsley are clinging to the chopping board.
- Preheat the oven to 200°C/180º Fan/400°F.
- Cut all the zucchini, unpeeled, into chunky batons approx. 7cm/3 inches long; if you're using yellow zucchini make these into slightly chunkier batons than the green ones. Arrange them in a large roasting tin (I use one of 44 x 34cm / 17 x 13 inches) so they’re not all on top of one another and coat them well with 4 tablespoons (60ml)/ quarter cup of the oil. Frankly, the best way to do this is to pour the oil over and then smoosh everything about in the tin with your hands. Stick the tin in the oven and roast the zucchini for 20-30 minutes, until cooked through and beginning to turn golden at the edges. You can get on with the beans once the tin’s in the oven (see step 3) but once the zucchini are ready, take the tin out of the oven, and immediately finely grate/zest the lemon directly over them, and sprinkle with a teaspoon of sea salt flakes (or a scant half teaspoon of fine sea salt). Leave to cool.
- While this is going on, cook the podded fresh fava beans (see intro if you're using frozen fava beans) and topped and tailed fine beans (I do them each separately) in salted boiling water until tender; the fava beans should need no more than a couple of minutes and the fine beans around 7, but do check as there are many variables influencing the timings. Drain them both and then plunge them in iced water, in two separate bowls. The fine beans will need no more than a minute in the iced water, so drain them again. Leave the fava beans in for five minutes, and then shell them, squeezing the bright green beans out of their thick grey overcoats.
- When the zucchini are cool, put them in a large dish with the two beans and dress them with lemon juice and, if needed, the final tablespoonful of olive oil. Tear the basil, leaving any small leaves whole, and chop the parsley and add them both to the bowl, mixing everything gently (again, just hands is easiest) to avoid squashing the zucchini batons.
- Check the seasoning and add salt and pepper as needed, decant into a serving dish and sprinkle over whatever bits of basil and parsley are clinging to the chopping board.
Additional Information
MAKE AHEAD / STORE:
Leftovers can be kept in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
MAKE AHEAD / STORE:
Leftovers can be kept in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
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