Snacks made with horse beans

Horse beans require a bit of shelling, but it’s well worth the effort when you finally get to the small, plump beans with their delicious texture and flavour. This snack is one of the best things to serve when they’re in season, and something everyone loves – especially with a good glass of full-bodied white Burgundy or a fine champagne.

Ingredients

Ingredients
1 kg whole horse beans in pods or 400 g shelled
1½ litres of water for blanching
35 g butter
1⁄2 dl water
25 g smoked cheese (40% fat)
A little lemon juice
12 thin slices of wholemeal bread
100 g pickled green strawberries (find the recipe in the recipe archive here)
A few leaves of lemon verbena, if desired
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper

See video guides here

Instructions

How to cook horse beans

Remove the horse beans from their pods and peel off the thick skin from each bean. Blanch the beans briefly for about 1 minute in lightly salted water. Then place the beans in a small saucepan with butter and 1⁄2 dl water and steam them until tender, covered, for about 8 minutes.

Mash the warm beans in the saucepan with a whisk to a very coarse purée, stir in the smoked cheese and season to taste with salt, pepper and lemon juice.

Toast the wheat bread on a griddle, in the oven or in a toaster. Spoon a dollop of broad bean purée onto each piece of toasted bread and top with small slices of pickled green strawberries and lemon verbena leaves.