I realised it was about time used the bags of broad beans that have been rattling around the freezer since last spring. Things are a bit sparse in the vegetable garden so it’s an ideal opportunity to take advantage of things I’ve squirrelled away. I’d blanched the broad beans before I froze them so it was easy to slip off their skins once they had defrosted. I used about 400g of shelled beans which ends up as a much smaller quantity once you’ve taken off their grey, outer skins. This is based on a recipe from Jamie at Home: Cook Your Way to the Good Life. My fritters turned out very hot as I used a rather large, frozen fresh red chilli. This made six fritters – enough for lunch for two with a salad of winter leaves.
400g broad beans – weight without their pods
handful of fresh mint, chives and coriander
grated zest and juice of a lemon
one small fresh red or green chilli
salt and pepper
one tablespoon cornflour
olive oil for frying
Put the herbs, lemon zest and juice and chilli in a blender or mini food processor. Pulse to chop finely. Slip the skins off the beans and discard. Add the bright green inner beans to the food processor. Season generously with salt and pepper. Add the cornflour and process until just a paste. Form into fritters with wet hands. Shallow fry in a heavy bottomed saucepan in a little olive oil.
