Broad Bean Paté with Goats’ Cheese & Mint
Broad Bean Paté with Goats’ Cheese & Mint is a wonderful dish for Spring and Summer. With a combination of earthy broad beans, tangy goats’ cheese, refreshing mint and a hint of lemon, it’s light but satisfying.
It’s fabulous spread thickly on toasted bread or Seed Crackers, or you can dip into it with vegetable crudités. Incredibly simple to make, I think this broad bean paté is impressive enough to serve as part of a larger mezze feast to share with friends too.
You can use either fresh or frozen broad beans, which you’ll need to lightly cook and remove the skins. But that’s about all the work there is to do. Simply whizz all the ingredients together for a delicious, beautifully-hued paté.
BROAD BEANS
Broad beans (known as fava beans in the US and elsewhere) were one of the many vegetables my Dad grew in our back garden when I was a kid. But, unlike the fresh peas and runner beans which I absolutely loved, I never looked forward to broad bean season.
Perhaps that’s because they’re particularly unsuited to my mother’s cooking method for all vegetables. It ran like this: Step 1 – boil. Step 2 – boil some more. Step 3 – boil another 10 minutes, just to be sure they’re thoroughly boiled. Cooked like this, broad beans are hard, mealy and utterly ruined.
We also always ate them with the skins on. While the beans are young, and provided you’re going to eat them quite simply, then that’s not a problem. Honestly though, I think broad beans are at their very best with the skins removed. They’ll also take up other flavours much better without that pesky, impenetrable jacket.
But I’ll concede that, for most recipes, it’s down to personal taste whether you leave the skins on or not. However, for this Broad Bean Paté with Goats’ Cheese & Mint I think you really do need to take them off. It doesn’t take as long as might think either. Honest.
SKINNING BROAD BEANS
Whether you use fresh or frozen broad beans, just simmer in lightly salted water until tender. Frozen baby ones will need barely any cooking at all. Next, drain in a sieve and cool under running tap water.
To remove the skins (which is known as double podding), lightly squeeze each bean between your thumb and forefinger. The skin should split and the shiny bean just pop out. If it doesn’t, try making a little nick with your thumbnail first.
Broad Bean Paté with Goats’ Cheese & Mint
You’ll need a soft, rindless goats’ cheese for this paté. Any kind will do, so just use your favourite whether strong or mild. My preference is for a milder one. I do love the slightly farmyardy taste of goat (and sheep) cheese, but I don’t want the flavour of the broad beans to be overwhelmed. Although I haven’t tried it, I don’t see why feta wouldn’t work instead of goats’ cheese if you fancy it.
You’ll also need some fresh mint; dried really is no substitute here. I like quite a bit of mint so put in two big handfuls of leaves, stripped from the stems. The only other ingredients are spring onion, garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, plus salt and pepper to taste.
To make the Broad Bean Paté with Goats’ Cheese & Mint, you just whizz everything in a blender or food processor or, like me, go at it with a stick blender. I’d recommend using half the lemon juice to start, adding more if necessary after you’ve given it a taste to check the seasoning.
And that’s it. The paté is ready to slather on or dip into.
OPTIONAL EXTRAS
To serve, it’s nice to have a few extra broad beans and some chopped mint to scatter over the top. I’m mad about homegrown pea shoots at the moment and they’re a lovely addition along with a drizzle of olive oil and a little grated Parmesan. If you’ve any of your goats’ cheese left, then crumble over the remains.
Broad Bean Paté with Goats’ Cheese & Mint must be one of the simplest recipes on this blog. But, like my very simple Smoked Salmon Paté, that’s precisely why you need to know about it. The paté itself is whizzed up in a matter of seconds. So, if you keep a stock of broad beans in the freezer, there’s not a lot of work other than skinning the beans.
Trust me. That little bit of effort is so worth it for beautiful, light and tasty Broad Bean Paté with Goats’ Cheese & Mint.
Broad Bean Paté with Goats' Cheese & Mint
Broad Bean Paté with Goats' Cheese & Mint is an easy, wonderful dish for Spring and Summer; earthy, tangy & refreshing all at once. Serve on toast or crackers or as a dip with vegetable crudités.
Ingredients
- 200 g broad beans, fresh or frozen if fresh, weight after podding
- 100g soft, rindless goats' cheese
- 1 clove garlic skinned, roughly chopped
- 2 spring onions roughly chopped
- 2 handfuls mint leaves
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 lemon juice only
- salt & pepper to taste
To Serve (optional)
- toasted bread
- pea shoots
- cooked, skinned broad beans
- grated Parmesan
- extra virgin olive oil
Instructions
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Put boiling water from a kettle into a saucepan, with a little salt if liked.
For frozen broad beans:
Add the broad beans and simmer for 2 min.
For fresh broad beans:
Cook in simmering water until completely tender (depending on size and age, approximately 3-8 min).
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Drain the beans in a sieve under running tap water until they're cold.
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Remove the skins from the broad beans by gently squeezing between your fingers - making a little nick with your thumbnail first will help. Discard the skins.
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Put the broad beans, goats' cheese, garlic, spring onions, mint leaves, olive oil and HALF the lemon juice in the bowl of a food processor or in suitable container if using a stick blender.
Season with a little salt and a good grind of pepper then switch on and start to blend the ingredients into a paté. When almost smooth, taste and add more seasoning or lemon juice if needed. Whizz again until smooth.
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Serving suggestion: spread the paté on toasted bread & top with pea shoots, a few broad beans, grated Parmesan or crumbled goats' cheese and a drizzle with olive oil.
Store leftover paté in a covered container in the fridge for up to 2 days.