Greek beans with dill & tomato

This recipe is the reason we grow broad beans in our polytunnel each Spring. The pods are lovely and tender and you can eat the whole thing - and I love them in this fresh tomato stew that reminds me of holidays in Greece!

I didn’t used to like broad beans, but after a few years of growing them I slowly fell in love - so if like I was, you’re not keen, don’t write them off quite yet..

Serves 4

Bunch of scallions or a small onion, chopped
Bunch of garlic scapes, chopped into 1” lengths
Olive oil
Salt and Pepper
400g broad beans (ideally young and tender)
400g tin of chopped tomatoes
Bunch of fresh dill, roughly chopped
Half a lemon

1) Chop the onion and garlic scapes and put in a saucepan over a medium heat with a good glug of olive oil and salt and pepper.

2) While the onion starts to cook, wash and prepare your broad beans. There is no need to pod them. You can eat the whole thing! Just cut off the stalk of the pod to prepare them.

3) Add the beans and chopped tomatoes and half the dill into the pan. Squeze in the juice of half a lemon, then put the lemon rind into the pan.

4) Simmer for 30 minutes to 1 hr. Add some boiling water if the beans are getting too dry.

5) Adjust the seasoning (add more salt and pepper) once the bean pods are soft and squishy. Squeeze the lemon half to remove some extra juice and then dispose (in the compost bin).

6) Serve with a sprinkling of chopped dill.

We ate ours with buttered rice with chickpeas and a green salad. These beans would also be lovely on a piece of toast with crumbled feta and a poached egg!