BROAD BEAN BRUSCHETTA

BROAD BEAN BRUSCHETTA

Spring on toast

serves 1-2

ingredients

250g broad beans, fresh best but frozen good too

1 garlic clove, roughly chopped

juice of 1/2 lemon

handful mint leaves, plus more to serve

3 tbsp olive oil, plus more to serve

2 tsp sugar, plus more to serve

1 tsp salt, plus more to serve

2 large slices of good bread

Bring a pan of water to the boil and add the broad beans. Bring to the boil again and simmer for 4 or so minutes. Drain and refresh under cool water and, if you have time, shell some or most of the beans. They are much easier to shell when cooked.

Add the beans to a small food processor and add the rest of the ingredients. Pulse about 20 times until you have a rough paste. If some beans have been missed out and are whole, leave them. They look lovely mixed through.

Taste the mixture. Add more salt to season, sugar to sweeten or lemon juice to sharpen up.

Toast the bread and spread over the broad beans. Scatter with mint leaves, a scrunch of black pepper, a pinch of sea salt flakes, and a generous drizzle of olive oil.

Serve for a light lunch with pea soup, chop up and serve as a canape or have for an unusual breakfast like I just have.

SMOKED MACKEREL PATE

Golly, lunchtime sandwiches are dull.

Dry, slapdash towers of bread, fumbly constructed at home with leftover hummus from the back of the fridge. Or worse, slimy, week-old slithers of starch bought in a hurry at the nearest supermarket. If only we could justify the daily, dripping, pastrami-stuffed loaf you get at Mishkins. We all wish we had the time and temper to make our own deli sarnie before work but, well, it never really happens. Opening eyes, washing hair and getting dressed have to be conquered first.

What we need is a put-it-together-last minute kind of sandwich - fresh, quick, cheap and easy. No soggy bread, no squished middle, no irritating cling film, no effort.

The Danes have nailed it with their open sandwich. Freshly baked rye piled high with cured meats, smoked cheese, and soused fish. Elegant, sophisticated, healthy, zero struggle.

Here's how you can get there. Make this smoked mackerel pate the night before, put it in a jar , pop it in your bag, and smother it on rye or crisp breads for a scrumptious munch. The shallot pickle takes a few minutes, the pate a matter of seconds.

Ditch the old sandwich - within moments you've got a mini smørrebrød for one.

SMOKED MACKEREL PATE AND PICKLED SHALLOTS

serves 1-2

ingredients

for the pate:
2 fillets smoked mackerel, skin removed
1 tbsp natural yoghurt
juice of 1/2 lemon
1 tsp Dijon mustard
good sprinkling of black pepper
pinch salt

for the pickled shallots:
2 tbsp white wine vinegar
1 tbsp sugar
1 large echalion shallot, finely sliced

Whizz all of the pate ingredients together to make a smooth paste. Place in an airtight, sterilised jar and keep cool in the fridge until ready to use.

For the pickle, place the vinegar and sugar in a small saucepan and set over a medium heat until the sugar dissolves. Add the shallots and simmer for a few minutes until soft. Leave to cool slightly and serve, or cool completely and place in another jar until you're hungry.

Serve on Ryvita and, if you have an extra minute, a beetroot and watercress salad.