Make broad beans the summery star with Rachel Allen's recipes for soup, guacamole and a twist on potato salad

Broad bean soup

Here’s a lovely broad bean soup recipe, below, that can be served hot — or, if the sun is shining, it will also work perfectly chilled. I love the flavour and texture of the soft, creamy, tangy goat’s cheese crumbled over the top, with a little extra-virgin olive oil. To keep the soup gloriously green, you need to ensure that the beans are cooked over a high heat, uncovered, until just tender. Prolonged boiling will render them dull in colour and flavour.

Serves 3-4

You will need:

• You will need:
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 150g finely chopped onions
• Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
• 300g broad beans, fresh or frozen (podded weight)
• 300ml chicken stock or vegetable stock
• 50ml cream

To serve, you will need:

• 1 tablespoon soft goat’s cheese
• A drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil

1 Put the extra-virgin olive oil in a saucepan over a medium heat. Add the finely chopped onions and season with sea salt and freshly ground pepper. Turn the heat down, cover and sweat the chopped onions for 6-8 minutes, until tender. Take the saucepan off the heat and allow the onions to cool.

2 While the onions are cooking, place a saucepan of water with a good pinch of salt on a high heat. Bring to the boil, then add the fresh or frozen broad beans. Cook for 2-3 minutes, uncovered, over a high heat until the beans are just tender, then drain them. When they are cool enough to handle, use your fingers to peel them.

3 Place the chicken stock or the vegetable stock, whichever you are using, and the cream in a blender along with the peeled broad beans and the sweated onions. Blend until smooth. Pour the soup through a sieve into a bowl. If you want to serve the soup cold, place it in the fridge to chill. If you want to serve it hot, reheat it.

4 To serve, divide between bowls. Crumble over the goat’s cheese and drizzle with a little extra-virgin olive oil.

New potato and broad bean salad with feta and hazelnuts

I love broad beans in salads. Add some into your favourite tomato salad or potato salad for a fresh, green bite. The potato salad recipe featured here has salty feta and crunchy roasted hazelnuts scattered over the top. For the best colour and flavour, I think it’s really worth taking the extra few minutes to peel the skins off the beans after they’ve been cooked.

Serves 6

You will need:

• 500g new potatoes
• Salt
• 400g broad beans, fresh or frozen (weighed out of their pods)
• 50ml extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped shallot or red onion
• 2 cloves of garlic, crushed or finely grated
• 2 tablespoons chopped mint
• 2 tablespoons torn or sliced basil
• 75g feta cheese
• 75g hazelnuts, roasted and coarsely crushed (see my Top Tip, below)

1 First, wash the potatoes and boil them in salted water for 10 minutes. Drain some of the water, leaving just a few centimetres of water in the pan. Cover and continue to cook the potatoes over a low-to-medium heat, until they’re tender.

2 While the potatoes are cooking, bring a separate saucepan of water to the boil. Add a good pinch of salt and boil the broad beans, uncovered, over a high heat for 2-3 minutes until they are just tender, then drain. When the beans are cool enough to handle, use your fingers to pinch and peel them, and set aside.

3 When the potatoes are cooked, drain them. While they are still warm, cut them into slices or chunks. In a bowl, mix the extra-virgin olive oil, the finely chopped shallot or finely chopped red onion, whichever you’re using, and the crushed or finely grated garlic, then drizzle this over the warm potato chunks.

4 Add the peeled broad beans and toss gently to mix, then add the chopped mint and the torn or sliced basil. Season to taste and place in a serving bowl.

5 Crumble over the feta and scatter the crushed roasted hazelnuts on top, then serve.

Rachel recommends

Crispy bacon lardons or cubes of cooked chorizo are also delicious added to the new potato and broad bean salad.

Top Tip

To roast and crush hazelnuts for the salad overleaf, cook them for about 10 minutes in a moderate oven until golden. Rub off the skins and press the base of a saucepan on the nuts to coarsely crush them.

Broad bean guacamole

For a beanie take on a classic guacamole, try replacing avocado with broad beans. Serve as you would an avocado guacamole — with tortilla chips, on toast under a poached egg, or as part of a salad bowl. Just delicious.

Serves 4-6

You will need:

• 450g broad beans, fresh or frozen
• Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
• ½ teaspoon ground cumin
• Juice of half a lemon
• 1 clove of garlic, crushed or finely grated
• 1 tablespoon chopped coriander
• 50ml extra-virgin olive oil

1 Place a saucepan of water on a high heat, bring to the boil then add a good pinch of sea salt and the fresh or frozen broad beans. Cook over a high heat, uncovered, for 2-3 minutes, until tender. Drain the beans and reserve a little of the cooking water. You can, if you wish, pinch and peel the light-green skins off the broad beans, but it’s not essential for this recipe. Cool the beans by placing them in a sieve and running cold water over them.

2 Place the cooked and cooled beans in a food processor and add the ground cumin, a little of the lemon juice, the crushed or finely grated garlic, the chopped coriander and 2 tablespoons of the bean cooking water. Turn on the food processor and whizz for a minute or so until you have an almost fine puree. If you haven’t peeled the skins from the broad beans, this stage can take a bit longer.

3 Add the extra-virgin olive oil, blend again and add more lemon juice if necessary. Taste for seasoning. If you’d like the guacamole to be less thick, you can add some more of the cooking water.

4 Place the guac in a bowl and serve.