At the beginning of the university term I decided I wanted to continue eating a wider range of foods. So I picked up tins of a number of different pulses, which come in at a wonderful 30p each and serve two, and thought I’d sort of “invent” a variety of dishes as I went along. Two of these tins contained butter beans, the first of which I used to make butterbean patties, but I really wanted to conserve the shape and textures of the butterbeans, so with some help from BBC Goodfood – which by-the-way is fantastic – this butterbean broth was born.
I like to think this meal has an Italian twist to it, because it’s very fresh and very light and healthy, which is really what I was aiming for. One of the main reasons for this is the use of fresh basil, something which is highly recommended – using dried basil isn’t really the same because it seems to lose most of its taste, and become rather unappealing. It is a little more expensive, but in this case, definitely worth it. Additionally, if you have time it is a really good idea to bake your own bread rolls to serve this with – they are so much better than those you buy in supermarkets, and using them really makes this dish super cheap.
Butterbean Broth {recipe}
Serves 2
Ingredients:
• 400g tin of butterbeans
• 400g tin chopped, or peeled, tomatoes
• handful of fresh basil, ripped
• 1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
• oil
• seasoning
• bread to serve
Method:
1. Heat up some oil in a pan and quickly fry off the garlic. Add the tomatoes almost immediately, so the garlic doesn’t burn. Allow to simmer for 5 minutes.
2. Add the butterbeans and half of the ripped basil. Stir, and season to taste. Cook on a medium heat for another 5 minutes.
3. Serve, as shown, in a bowl with bread. Scatter the remaining basil over the top.
Cost: This meal should cost, for two people, around £1-1.10. That means, after employing the use of some extremely complex mathematical equations, that this meal will cost around 50p per portion. Bargain!
2 replies on “Butterbean Broth”
I’m a huge fan of BBC Good Food website and the magazine. I think I went through the wholefood, bean eating phase when I was at university a million years ago. They still make a really tasty meal, thanks for reminding me, must rummage in the back of my cupboard and see what is there!
I also use BBC good food a lot. It’s great for ideas for things. I’m sure the bean patties were good too – I find once you mash them up most beans end up tasting quite similar anyway so it is nice to use them whole too so you can tell what you’re eating.