Fresh broad beans are in season at the moment, and being one of my favourite vegetables usually just have them boiled and served with lemon juice and olive oil and some fresh bread. Feeling that I needed to be a little more adventurous I checked to find any interesting recipes and came across this absolutely delicious Roman dish call La Vignarola….not only uses my favourite broad beans but also a few more of my favourites, leeks, spinach and artichokes!! I made this a couple of days ago, served it with some pasta and parmesan and had some left over the next day to enjoy as a main dish with some garlic bread…it truly is a beautiful dish and I found it so easy to make too, it's one of those that I shall be making very often…Enjoy!!
Ingredients
6 artichoke hearts (you can use frozen)
500g fresh broad beans
1 large leek, washed and sliced
1 small bunch spinach, washed and roughly chopped
1 onion, finely chopped
300g peas, fresh or frozen
4 thick slices prosciutto ham
Olive oil
1 small bunch mint, chopped
1 small bunch parsley, chopped
Salt and pepper
300ml chicken stock
Method
Fill a large pot with water, add some salt and bring to the boil. Add broad beans, artichoke hearts and leeks and boil until everything is cooked, add the spinach for a few minutes until just wilted. Drain and set aside.
In a large pan, big enough to hold all the ingredients add a good slash of olive oil and cook the onion very gently until soft. Add the chicken stock and peas and bring to the boil. Now, lay the chopped prosciutto on top of the peas and simmer gently until the peas are cooked.
Add the drained vegetables and bring to simmering point and allow the vegetables to stew together for about 10 minutes.
Season with salt and pepper, stir in the chopped herbs and add some more olive oil.
You can toss La Vignarola in some cooked pasta, topped with thinly sliced parmesan or as a side dish, but is so delicious served in its own too with some garlic bread.
Androulla xx
