Best Mangetout Beans For Eating With Ham Or Roast Lamb Recipes

HAM AND BEAN SOUP

Steps:

• Heat a Dutch oven (you can also use a thick-bottomed soup pot, but may need to stir more often to prevent burning) over medium heat for about 3 minutes or so, until it's nice and hot. Add the oil and the onions. Cook until the onions begin to turn translucent. Add the garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes.
• Stir in the chopped celery and carrots, and cook for an additional 5-6 minutes. Add the beans, followed by the water. Increase the heat to high.
• Add the bay leaves, dried thyme, garlic powder, onion powder, white pepper, black pepper, paprika, and chicken bouillon paste. (If you don't have chicken bouillon paste, simply use chicken stock in place of the water.) Bring to a boil.
• Stir in the ham. I like to cut it into big shards/shreds for extra texture. (Sarah likes hers cubed and orderly though. I won't judge either way!) If you're using a ham hock instead of ham, you can add it in now.
• Reduce the heat to medium-low so the soup is at a somewhat energetic simmer--it should always be at a low bubble. Cook for 4-5 hours, stirring periodically. If the soup isn't cooking down, you may want to increase the heat to medium. Every stove is different, so don't just set it and forget it. Periodically check liquid levels.
• In the last hour of cooking, add the fresh parsley, and cook for another hour. It's done when the beans and carrots are tender, and the soup is thickened. If you used a ham hock, fish out any bones, and chop up any large pieces of meat and skin (keeping the skin is optional) that don't break down during the cooking process before serving.
• This soup is quite forgiving. If it ends up too salty for your tastes, just add water, and lightly mash some of the beans to release their starchiness and re-thicken the soup. If you are reheating the soup and there is not enough liquid, just add 1-2 cups of water to bring it back to your desired consistency.

HAM OR LAMB BEAN SOUP

Steps:

• In a medium saucepan, heat oil over medium heat just until glistening. Add onion and rosemary, and cook until onion is soft and translucent, about 5 minutes.
• Add chicken stock, 2 cups of water, beans, and tomatoes; bring to a boil. Season with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Reduce heat, and simmer, skimming occasionally, until the soup has thickened slightly, about 20 minutes.
• Stir spinach into the soup, and cook just until it wilts, about 1 minute. Divide the chopped ham or lamb among four bowls, and ladle the hot soup on top.

RACK OF LAMB WITH WARM SALAD OF MIXED BEANS & SLOW-ROAST TOMATOES

Steps:

• Heat oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7. For the tomatoes heat the oil in an ovenproof frying pan (if you don't have an ovenproof pan, use a standard frying pan then transfer to a roasting tray before putting in the oven) and fry cut-side down. Add the thyme and garlic and cook for 3 mins until coloured. Turn over the tomatoes, drizzle with vinegar, then roast in the oven for 20 mins until soft and caramelised. Leave to rest.
• While the tomatoes are roasting, cook the lamb. Season the meat generously and heat the oil and butter in another ovenproof frying pan. Place the lamb, fat-side down, in the pan and scatter round the garlic and thyme. Brown the lamb really well, then turn over.
• Baste the lamb with the pan juices, then transfer to the oven for 10 mins for lamb that is pink. If you prefer it more well done, give it 5 mins more. Leave the lamb somewhere warm to rest.
• While the lamb is cooking, prepare the bean salad. Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil and cook the broad beans for a few mins. Scoop them out with a slotted spoon straight into a bowl of ice water, then slip them from their skins into a bowl. Boil the fine beans for 2 mins, then add the mangetout and cook both for 1 min longer. Drain, plunge into iced water (this keeps their bright green colour), leave for 1 min to cool down, then drain again.
• Heat the oil in a frying pan, quickly cook the shallots for 1 min until starting to soften and colour, then add the fine beans and mangetout. Cook for about 1 min to heat through, then toss in the almonds and finally toss through the broad beans.
• Scatter the basil over the tomatoes, saving a few of the very small leaves for garnishing. Make the dressing by simply whisking the oil and vinegar together. Carve the lamb into cutlets on a board with a very sharp knife (see tip, below). You are now ready to plate up.
• Place the salad to one side of each plate. Line up three tomato halves down the other side of the plate. Lay three chops on top of the salad, slightly overlapping, with the bones pointing in the same direction. Drizzle the dressing around the plate and scatter the small basil leaves over the tomatoes.

LEG OF LAMB WITH SAVORY BEANS

Steps:

• Put the beans in Dutch oven or heavy-bottomed pot. Add 8 cups water and place pot over high heat. Stick 1 whole clove into each onion half. Add onion, bay leaves, carrot, garlic, thyme and salt. Bring to a boil, then turn heat to a bare simmer and cover with lid ajar. (The slow simmer keeps the beans from bursting.) After 30 minutes, taste the bean broth, and add salt as necessary. Cook for about another 30 minutes, but check for tenderness after 15 minutes. Turn off the heat and let beans cool in their cooking liquid. (You may cook the beans several hours, or up to 1 day, in advance.)
• Meanwhile, prepare the lamb: With a sharp paring knife, make 24 small slits over the surface of the lamb. Using your fingers, push a garlic sliver into each slit.
• Season the leg generously all over with kosher salt, then sprinkle with about 1 teaspoon black pepper. Drizzle with about 2 tablespoons olive oil, and massage oil and seasonings all over the meat. Leave at room temperature for at least an hour. (Alternatively, wrap and refrigerate the seasoned leg for up to 24 hours. Bring to room temperature before proceeding.)
• Heat oven to 475 degrees. In a sturdy roasting pan, arrange the onions and celery. Lay down the thyme and rosemary branches and set the lamb leg on top. Roast, uncovered, for 20 minutes, then add wine to the pan and turn heat to 350 degrees. Continue cooking, basting the roast occasionally, until the internal temperature reaches 130 degrees for medium-rare or 140 for medium, which will take up to 1 1/2 hours.
• Transfer the roast to a cutting board and keep warm, tented with foil, for 15 to 20 minutes. Remove the onions, celery, thyme and rosemary from the roasting pan and discard. Skim fat from surface of pan juices.
• Set pan over medium-high heat and bring to a simmer, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Taste and adjust with a splash of water if the pan juices are too salty.
• While lamb is resting, boil carrots in well-salted water until tender, 10 to 12 minutes. Drain, toss with butter and keep warm.
• Reheat the beans in their broth, then drain reserving bean broth for another use. Remove and discard onion, bay leaves, carrot, garlic and thyme. Put beans in a warm serving dish. Toss beans gently with the parsley, chives, lemon zest, olive oil and pepper. Reheat pan juices, strain and pour into a serving vessel.
• Carve the lamb and arrange on serving platter along with the carrots. Garnish with watercress, if desired.

"MANGETOUT BEANS" FOR EATING WITH HAM OR ROAST LAMB

Steps:

• Warm the olive oil in a large pan. Peel and finely chop the onion and add it to the oil. Cut the bacon into bite-sized chunks and stir it into the softening onion. The bacon fat should turn pale gold; the onion should soften without color.
• Put the fava bean pods into the pan and pour in the water. Bring to a boil, then decrease to a light simmer, and simmer for fifteen to twenty minutes, until the pods have lost their bright color and are meltingly tender.
• Coarsely chop the fresh mint and stir it into the beans. Serve with a thick wedge of lemon to squeeze over, and torn hunks of crusty bread to mop up some of the golden olive oil dressing.

BRETON BRAISED LAMB & HARICOT BEANS

Steps:

• Put the beans in a saucepan and cover with water. Add the quartered onion, the halved carrot and halved celery, the bay leaves, parsley stalks and peppercorns. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 30-40 mins until the beans are soft. Drain well and reserve the cooking liquid, discarding the onion, carrot and celery.
• While the beans are cooking, heat half the olive oil in a heavy-based flameproof casserole. Brown the lamb in batches over a high heat. As each batch is cooked, remove it and set aside on a plate. Reduce the heat, add the chopped onion to the pan with the diced celery and carrot and cook until well coloured. Add the garlic and cook for another couple of mins.
• Return the lamb to the pan and add all the remaining ingredients, except the beans. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat to very low and cover, then cook for 2 hrs. Add the beans 45 mins before the end of cooking time. Stir the lamb round every so often. If the lamb looks dry, add some of the bean cooking liquid.
• Remove the lid for the last 30 mins of cooking time, and season. This helps the cooking liquid to reduce. You should end up with a thick stew of tender lamb and soft beans. Scatter over the parsley and serve.

GREEN BEANS AND MANGETOUT WITH HAZELNUTS AND ORANGE

Steps:

• Bring plenty of water to the boil in a large saucepan (you need a lot of space for the veggies, to preserve the colour). Blanch the beans in the water for 4 minutes, the drain them in a colander and run them under tap water until cold. Leave to drain and dry. It is really important to make sure that they get completely cold so that they don't continue to cook - no-one wants overcooked green beans! Repeat this with the mangetout, but only cook for 1 minute (see above note).
• Mix the garlic and chives with the oils, zest and a tbsp or so of orange juice, and season with a pinch of salt and pepper. Toss the dressing with the green beans and mangetout, and scatter the hazelnuts over the top.