Fresh, light and zesty - this is the perfect brunch for warmer months. Garlic rubbed toast topped with chunky mashed peas and broad beans (or you can just use peas*), salty crumbled feta, fresh mint and lemon juice and zest. This makes a really generous portion, each one packed with over 25g's of protein and you can save any extras for later in the week.
Total time to make : 20 minutes
Servings : 2 - 3
Ingredients
Sliced bread, to toast
200g frozen (or fresh*) broad beans
180g frozen peas
1 lemon, zest and juice of
Handful of fresh mint leaves, plus extra to garnish
80g feta
2 tbsp olive oil, plus extra to drizzle
2 cloves of garlic
1 tsp salt
Handful of peashoots, to garnish
Black pepper, to season
Pinch of chilli flakes (optional)
Method
Bring a small saucepan of water to the boil. Add in the broad beans and cook for 2 minutes from frozen or 30 seconds from fresh. In the meantime, prepare a clean bowl of very cold water (add ice if you have it). Drain the broad beans using a colander and then put them in the bowl of very cold water, leaving them to one side whilst you prepare the peas.
Put the frozen peas into the empty colander and run them under cold water for a few minutes, this will quickly defrost them whilst keeping their firm texture rather than boiling them which can make them mushy.
Use your fingers to squeeze and peel the outer velvety jacket from the broad beans, revealing a bright green inner bean. The cold water will help soften their outer jacket to make this easier. Discard the jacket and put the podded broad beans in the colander with the peas.
Repeat until all the broad beans are podded (this takes about 10 minutes but it's a great time to listen to music, podcasts, audiobooks etc..!).
Once the broad beans have all been podded and added in with the peas, shake the colander to drain any excess water and then tip them both into a large mixing bowl. Add in the lemon zest and juice, 2 tbsps of olive oil and a generous pinch of salt. Use a fork or potato masher to very roughly mash the mixture. Tear in the fresh mint leaves and crumble in the feta, stir once or twice with a spoon to mix. Season to taste, adding more salt if necessary.
Toast your sliced bread until golden and peel your whole garlic cloves. As soon as the toast is ready and whilst it's still warm, rub a whole clove of garlic over each slice. Plate the toast and use a spoon to pile on the pea and board bean mash. Garnish with extra mint leaves, a handful of peashoots, a drizzle of olive oil and freshly cracked black pepper. Finish with a pinch of chilli flakes for a touch of heat, if you like.
Nutritional Information
(per portion on 2 slices of sourdough)
546 calories
26g protein, 69g carbs, 20g fat
Good to know:
Vegetarian.
To make this vegan, skip out the feta.
Also known as the fava bean, broad beans come in long green pods like sugar snap peas and are 'double podded' beans. You can buy them fresh (still in their long green pods) or frozen (already plucked from their pods). Whether they're fresh or frozen, you still need to boil and peel off their outer jackets to get the bright green inner bean.
If you don't have broad beans or want to save time and just use peas, use 380g of frozen peas.
This makes 2 - 3 generous portions. For leftovers, wrap the bowl tightly in cling film and keep in the fridge for up to 3 days. Great piled on top of toast, a baked jacket potato, stirred through orzo or pasta, in a folded omelette or baked on an individual puff pastry tart.