Pasta with broad beans

Broad beans are one of the most delicious and easy to grow June greens. You need a lot though because the edible, or rather the tasty, bit is rather small. It is covered with first one thick pod (from which you can make stock if you don't like throwing things away) and then a chewy peel that you should really take off; it's not hard just pop it off between your fingers like when peeling an almond.

The beans have a delicate flavour so don't use strong spices. I used onion, green squash (aka zucchini, courgette) and oregano from the garden.

Almost any short pasta will do but try to pick some with a larger cavity, like gnocchetti sardi, where the beans can hide rather than the one I used.

Gnocchi with cabbage and a side of beetroot

The gnocchi are made from potato, flour and salt. You need to mash the potatoes thoroughly until very smooth. They are quite heavy so you don't need a lot.

I cooked the cabbage with onion, garlic and juniper berries and then added the cooked gnocchi. I'm no expert on cabbage so I don't know what this one is called but it was white but not as pale as white cabbage. I wasn't even sure it was edible at the time but I'm still alive so it must have been.

Incredibly good, try it!