Summer spaghetti: Broad beans, spinach and mint

Man Woman will not dwell on the presence or absence of the English summer. It does not, in fact, weigh on our minds at all. No, rather it will often be midday before Man or Woman might even remark, ‘Oh look, dear, it happens to be a miserable shit of a day once again. Ever so glad we migrated.’

For us, as non-natives, part of the goodness of eating seasonally is actually discovering what is in fact seasonal. Broad beans, we understand, are summery even if the skies under which they grow are bleak and seemingly devoid of any sunlight. Moving on, this recipe was the first time we used them and it is pretty good. All can be made while the pasta is boiling and happily exists without the cheese if you want to go dairy-free.

A note here, this recipe quantaties are totally subjective. This amount will get you a nice balance of pasta to veg, but tweak to your tastes.

Broad bean, spinach, mint & hazelnut spaghetti

• Wholewheat spaghetti
• 1/3 C fresh broad beans (or peas, edame – any fresh green pod-borne things etc)
• 1 C spinach, chopped
• 6 or so leaves of fresh mint, chopped
• 1 large shallot, finely sliced
• 2 TBSP hazelnuts (pistachio, pine nuts or even walnuts could also work well)
• 100g soft goats cheese or feta (optional)
• Butter/olive oil for frying shallots

Bring a large pot of water to the boil and chuck the spaghetti in. (Really do use wholewheat – it so much tastier).

In a small pan, heat a little butter or olive oil and throw in the shallots and nuts. After a minute or two, add the broadbeans and keep stirring as the spaghetti cooks.

Once cooked, drain the spaghetti, return the spaghetti to the large pot and throw in chopped spinach. Let it wilt a little in the still-hot pot and then mix in the beans, shallots and nuts.

Throw in mint and then serve. Top with goats cheese if you like, and either way drizzle with good olive oil and season with salt and pepper.

Estimated cost: £2.20 without cheese, £4 with cheese

Musical accompaniment: Something classical. We really should start paying more attention to this.

Gazpacho

We’ve very hopefully created a new tag called ‘summer recipes’. I feel this could be tempting fate, but gazpacho kinda forces summer into your kitchen. You can’t fight it.

This recipe is adapted from the totally fabulous – but not very veggie friendly – the New Spanish Table.

Gazpacho

• 5 tomatoes (3 cups)
• 1 cucumber (about 150g – smallish)
• 1 red pepper
• 2/3 C bread crumbs (or stale bread, cubed and soaked in water)
• 3 large spring onions
• 1/3 C water
• 1/4 C olive oil
• 2 TBSP sherry vinegar
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• 1/8 ysp paprika
• 1/8 tsp smoked paprika
• 1/2 tsp cumin seeds

Throw all the veg, breadcrumbs and spices into a blender and blitz for all you’re worth. Add vinegar to taste.

Finito!

Estimated cost: £2.30

Musical accompaniment: The Cave Singers