Recipes › Broad Beans › Broad Bean and Mint Crostini with Ricotta
Broad Bean and Mint Crostini with Ricotta
A vibrant Italian-style snack that celebrates broad beans at their sweetest. Freshly podded beans are quickly blanched, double-podded for their brilliant green flesh, then crushed with lemon, mint and olive oil and piled onto toasted sourdough smeared with creamy ricotta. This is the kind of thing you make in high summer when the beans are young and tender and you want something that tastes exactly like the season.
Broad Beans is usually ready June to August. More broad beans recipes, or see what to sow this month where you are.
Ingredients
- 900 g broad beans, podded (weight in pod)
- 8 sourdough bread, sliced 1.5cm thickor a good country loaf
- 250 g ricotta
- 15 g fresh mint leaves, roughly torn
- 1 lemon, zested and juiced
- 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 cloves garlic, peeled, left whole
- 1 tsp flaky sea salt
- 1 pinch black pepper, freshly ground
- 20 g pecorino or parmesan, finely grated (optional)
Contains: milk, cereals gluten.
Method
- Bring a medium pan of well-salted water to the boil. Add the podded broad beans and blanch for 2 minutes, then drain and immediately plunge into a bowl of cold water to stop the cooking and fix the colour.About 5 min
- Once the beans are cool enough to handle, squeeze each one from its grey-white outer skin. You should end up with about 280–300g of vivid green inner beans. Discard the skins.About 8 min
- Put the double-podded beans in a bowl and roughly crush them with a fork — you want a coarse, textured mash, not a smooth paste. Stir in 3 tablespoons of the olive oil, the lemon juice, half the lemon zest, the mint, a generous pinch of salt and plenty of black pepper. Taste and adjust seasoning.About 3 min
- Toast or griddle the sourdough slices until golden and crisp on both sides. While still hot, rub each slice lightly with the cut side of the whole garlic clove and drizzle with the remaining tablespoon of olive oil.About 4 min
- Spread each crostini generously with ricotta, then spoon the crushed broad bean mixture on top. Finish with the remaining lemon zest, a pinch of flaky salt, and a grating of pecorino or parmesan if using. Serve immediately.
Tips
- Double-podding is non-negotiable when the beans are bigger than your thumbnail — the skins turn bitter and starchy as the beans mature. Young, small beans (under 1.5cm) can sometimes be used as-is.
- Season the ricotta with a little salt and lemon zest before spreading — plain ricotta can taste flat and the crostini need that seasoning at every layer.
- Make the broad bean crush up to 2 hours ahead and keep it covered in the fridge. Toast the bread and assemble just before serving.
Ring the changes
- Replace the ricotta with a thick layer of good hummus for a dairy-free version that works just as well.
- Add 4 anchovies, finely chopped, into the broad bean crush for a deeply savoury, salty kick that pairs beautifully with the mint.
Keeping it
The broad bean crush keeps in the fridge for up to 24 hours, covered with a layer of cling film pressed directly onto the surface. Assembled crostini do not store well — toast and assemble fresh.
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