My husband has a green thumb and I, unfortunately, do not. He loves his little veggie garden made up of a collection of veggie boxes he potters about in, and an assortment of pots and baskets, growing a variety of treats from beetroot to basil. The beauty of our situation is that what he loves to grow I get to cook. He does, however, occasionally throw a spanner in the works by growing a few things I either don't particularly like or don't know what to do with. Enter the broad bean. I've had these as tasty little morsels, and also as bitter little misfortunes depending on how they've been treated. We currently have them in a bit of abundance so I decided to make them into a dip, and was pleasantly surprised with the outcome.
The down side of broad beans is to get them tasty you have to get them first out of their pod, then out of their outer skin. This is best achieved by boiling them for 5-10 minutes or until they swell, then soaking them in cold water until the outer skin shrivels, then just peel it off.
The cheese in this dip gives it a nice creaminess, and the lemon and herbs give a fresh finish. The quantities below are approximate, so adjust them all to taste. It makes quite a lot of dip too so halve it if you just want a small amount.
For the dip:
- Philadelphia cream cheese (1/2 a cup)
- Danish feta (1/2 a cup)
- 2 cups cooked, peeled broad beans
- 2-3 segments preserved lemon, finely diced
- 3 tbs mint basil finely chopped
- Olive oil
2. With a stick blender or in a food processor pulse the broad beans, preserved lemon, and mint basil with a good splash of olive oil until combined (leave as chunky as you like, I like it quite smooth). Add a few tbs of chicken stock or some more oil if it looks a bit dry.
3. Stir the bean mix in with the cheese mix and season with salt and pepper.
