Braised Courgette Butter Beans
We all have a different idea of what home means. Words like comfort, warmth, safety and stability come to mind for me. Or at least in an ideal world, that is what home should feel like for us all. For many, what reminds us of home might be related more to a person than to a particular place. So below, you’ll find a recipe that reminds me of my partner, angelica, who helps provide me with my sense of home. I make her a version of my braised butter beans once a week without fail. It’s exactly what’s required when she’s in need of something nourishing, comforting and quick to make. We love the simplicity of the ingredients, the speed with which the flavours develop and the satisfaction of using seasonal vegetables, like courgettes on this occasion. A reminder that healthy, nourishing and tasty home-cooked recipes don’t need to be complicated.
Ingredients
- 1large courgette
- 1shallot
- 0.5red chilli
- 2garlic cloves
- 30 gramsfresh basil
- 400 gramstin of butter beans, with liquid
- 2 tablespoonsnutritional yeast
- 1 teaspoonmiso paste
- olive oil
- salt and freshly-ground black pepper
Instructions
- 1
Slice the courgettes into thin rounds, roughly 1 cm thick. Warm a good glug of olive oil in a pan on medium-high heat. Add the courgettes, cooking until browned on either side, for around 5–10 mins. Remove the courgettes from the pan and set aside.
- 2
Finely chop the shallot, basil stalks, red chilli and garlic, keeping aside the whole basil leaves for later. In the same oil used for the courgettes (adding more oil if required), sauté the shallots with a pinch of salt until softened, around 2–3 mins.
- 3
Add the basil stalks, chilli and garlic, frying until fragrant, then add the butter beans with their liquid. Stir well and simmer on a medium-low heat for 10 mins.
- 4
Reincorporate the courgettes, stirring carefully, then add the nutritional yeast and half of the lemon zest.
- 5
Dissolve the miso paste in 1 tbsp of boiling water and add to the pan with half of the basil leaves. Season to taste with salt and freshly-ground black pepper.
- 6
Spoon the beans into bowls. Top with a drizzle of olive oil, remaining lemon zest and basil, and enjoy with buttered sourdough toast and a side salad!