Food & Facts

Read on for a Broadbean weird and wonderful fact but beware of stalkers! If you've already found that perfect mate, show them how much you care with a simple salmon beany dish.

Weird fact

To become attractive to a certain man, a woman can place seven beans in a circle on the ground. She should then have the man step into the circle or over it (we may be biased but we recommend using Broadbeans).

You can recycle the beans making this month's delicious recipe; asparagus, broad bean & smoked salmon pasta. The Broadbeans offer such a robust flavour and are highly nutritious; full of phosphorous, vitamin A and C as well as being notably rich in protein.

Asparagus, broad bean & smoked salmon pasta

Serves 4
Ready in 25-30 minutes

Method

1. Melt the butter in a pan, then fry the spring onions for 1 minute, until softened. Add the wine and boil hard to reduce to about 2 tbsp. Stir in the crème fraîche, season well and add the nutmeg. Bring to the boil and simmer for 2-3 minutes until slightly thickened. Stir in the dill, if using, and squeeze in a little lemon juice. Set aside.

2. Blanch the shelled broad beans in boiling salted water for 2-3 minutes. Drain into a sieve and hold under running cold water to cool. Drain again and peel off the outer hard skin - make a nick in the tops and pop the beans out.

3. Trim the asparagus - if it's young, it won't need much cut off the stems. Cut into halves or thirds. Cook the pasta in salted boiling water as per pack instructions, adding the asparagus 3 minutes before the end of cooking time. Cook until "al dente".

4. Drain well, reserving a little pasta water. Toss the hot pasta and asparagus with the drained broad beans, smoked salmon and sauce, loosening with a spoonful or two of pasta water, if necessary. The heat of the pasta should reheat the sauce and slightly cook the smoked salmon, but stir over a gentle heat to warm through if necessary. Serve immediately.