Broad beans and artichokes make for a perfect combination in this super healthy and gorgeous looking seasonal casserole.
We all know that eating seasonal vegetables is healthier for both you and the environment. It is also smarter because vegetables reach their peak of flavour when they are in season. That is why Lara and I always buy our veggies directly from our local ‘payés’, a Catalan local farmer who grows beautiful eco/organic veggies just outside Barcelona.
And now that we’re reaching mid March, the time is ripe for two veggies that we love cooking with: broad beans and artichokes. Lara never seems to get enough of them!
Broad beans and artichokes casserole
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 45 minutes
Passive time: –
Difficulty: Easy
INGREDIENTS
- 1 kg Artichokes
- 500 g Broad beans – alternatively green peas or green asparagus.
- 100 g White Onion – alternatively brown onion, finely chopped.
- 1 clove Garlic – finely chopped
- 4 tbsp Chopped tomatoes
- 4 Eggs
- 50 g Iberico ham – diced. Omit for a veggie version of the dish.
- 1 slice of Bread – fried
- 0.5 tsp Plain flour
- 1 tsp Black peppercorns
- 0.25 tsp Cumin seeds
- Salt
- 3 tbsp Extra virgin olive oil
METHOD
- Cook the broad beans in a pot with boiling water for 10 minutes. Strain them and place them in a bowl with iced water to stop the coction immediately.
- Remove the leaves from the artichokes until you are left with the artichoke hearts only. Cook them in a pot with boiling water and a pinch of salt for 25 min. Remove the artichokes and keep the stock.
- Fry the whole garlic in a frying pan with a bit of olive oil. Reserve inside a mortar.
- Fry the slice of bread in the same frying pan. Remove and place in the mortar together with the fried garlic, the cumin and a pinch of black pepper. Grind the ingredients to make a ‘majado’. If you don’t own a mortar, use a food processor or a hand blender.
- Heat some extra virgin olive oil in an oven-proof pan and poach the chopped onion until transparent. Then add the iberico ham dices and cook for an extra 2 minutes.
- Stir the flour until cooked, then add the tomato and keep stirring.
- Stir in the broad beans and the artichokes. Cover the veggies halfway with the artichokes stock. Bring to a boil and cook for 5 minutes before adding the ‘majado’. Cook for another 5 minutes until the sauce thickens up to a density we are happy with.
- Break the eggs on top of the dish, season with salt and cook for an extra 3 minutes.
- Finally, preheat the oven grill and place the pan in the top part of the oven to grill for the last 4-5 minutes, making sure the egg yolk gets cooked but not too much.
- Replace the broad beans by either green peas or asparagus for some equally delicious alternatives.
- If you are using frozen veggies, you don’t need to cook them previously to be added to the oven dish. Just extend the final cooking for an extra 10 minutes instead.
