Deeply Dippy Broad Bean Dip

Yet more things to do with Broad Beans - essential when one's personal harvest has been (bean?) too successful! This is delish though, so do give it a whirl!

I can't tell you how much I love this dish! I sometimes exchange the cheese for homemade Kofte, but using Macroom Buffalo Haloumi is a really great substitute for a Meat Free feast!

Pesto. Pesto, pesto, pesto.  Be honest…do we really need another pesto recipe in our lives?  Probably not, but necessity is the mother of all invention and also having shed loads of Kale growing in the garden will also make the cogs in your mind spin into overdrive as you wonder to yourself what the hell else you can make with it!

Deeply Dippy Broad Bean Dip

Yet more things to do with Broad Beans – essential when one’s personal harvest has been (bean?) too successful! This is delish though, so do give it a whirl!

Is it a dip? Is it a hummus? Is it a pesto? I’m not sure to be honest, but what I do know is that it can any of the above, but most importantly what it definitely is is DELICIOUS!

It is also really simple. So, if like me you are staring down the barrel of another three to four weeks of non-stop bean eating, this little whizzo of a dish will make a refreshing change in how to eat your beautiful sweet Broad, (Fava), Beans!

I created this the same night I tested out the Retro Tuna Plait recipe, and the two things together were just amazing!

Deeply Dippy Broad Bean Dip

Ingredients (makes about 200 ml of dippy/hummusy/pestoy/saucy thing)

  • 2 generous handfuls of Broad Beans in their pods
  • 2 tbsp pine nuts
  • 1 clove garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
  • Juice of half a lemon
  • 1 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
  • 1 1/2 tbsp Natural Yogurt
  • 1 tsp sweet smoked paprika
  • Sea salt to taste

Method

  • Pod, skin and blanch the Broad Beans.
  • Place all the ingredients into a blender/processor, and blend until smooth.
  • If a little too rough, add more yogurt a little at a time until the mix blends into an almost smooth consistency. I like a little texture to my hummus, but some prefer their totally smooth, so blend according to your preference.
  • Place in a bowl, drizzle a little more EVO over the top. I decorated mine with a vibrant orange nasturtium flower (edible), but herb flowers, calendula petals or some other edible flower would make a lovely garnish against the fresh green colour of the dish.

Although I used this like a vegetable condiment to my Retro Tuna Plait, this goes really well as a topping for toasted sourdough crostini; a dip for crudities, or even swished through long pasta with heaps of grated parmesan and black pepper.

Aubergine, Tomato & Halloumi

I can’t tell you how much I love this dish! I sometimes exchange the cheese for homemade Kofte, but using Macroom Buffalo Haloumi is a really great substitute for a Meat Free feast!

There are a few elements to this dish, but actually if you follow the sequence in the method, you’ll find that it’ll all be done in under 40 minutes. Also worth noting is that this sauce will make more than you need, but don’t fret – this sauce goes with everything! Just portion off what you don’t use for this and use for a quick and easy pasta dish another night!

Aubergine, Tomato and Halloumi

Ingredients:

  • Two tins of tomatoes
  • 1 medium red onion, finely diced
  • Olive oil and a generous knob of butter
  • Sea salt
  • 1 large aubergine, sliced into rounds
  • 1 or 2 egg whites
  • Panko breadcrumbs, seasoned with black pepper
  • 1 pack of Macroom Buffalo Halloumi, slice in half length ways
  • Dried oregano
  • Green herby pesto: either homemade or a good quality shop bought one

Method:

  • In a deep saucepan, add 1 tbsp of olive oil and the butter. Gently fry off the onion until its softened but not taken on any colour. Add the tomatoes and cook for at least 30 mins on a low heat, stirring every so often.
  • While the sauce is cooking, place the aubergine slices in a colander and salt over generously. Set aside.
  • When the sauce is cooked, place everything into a blender a wiz until super smooth. Check for seasoning and adjust with salt and pepper. Place back in the saucepan ready to warm through.
  • Pat the aubergine slices with kitchen paper, then brush both sides with the egg white. Pane on one side only with the breadcrumbs.
  • In a large heavy based frying pan, heat some oil and then cook the aubergine slices on the naked side first, then flip and cook through on the crumbed side until golden brown. Set aside.
  • Warm through the sauce until it just begins to bubble.
  • Prepare the halloumi with a light brush of oil and sprinkle a small amount of dried oregano on both sides. Fry off until golden brown in the frying pan used for the aubergines.
  • Spoon a generous amount of the tomato sauce onto a place and frame with slices of the aubergine. Place the halloumi in the middle of the tomato sauce and top with a spoonful of pesto.

Enjoy!

Kale Pesto – with a twist!

Pesto. Pesto, pesto, pesto.  Be honest…do we really need another pesto recipe in our lives?  Probably not, but necessity is the mother of all invention and also having shed loads of Kale growing in the garden will also make the cogs in your mind spin into overdrive as you wonder to yourself what the hell else you can make with it!

And so, we come to pesto.  But how to make it a little bit different and what then to serve it up with.  Now there’s a challenge, and so I came with the idea of substituting the typical Italian flavours of pesto with asian flavours that are so complimentary with Kale.

Continue reading “Kale Pesto – with a twist!”

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