Inspecting each packet at the vegetable seed stand carefully, broad beans immediately caught my eye. Not having a clue what I was about to grow didn’t matter much to me for as long as it came out of my garden I was happy. Strangely, the plants weren’t like the ordinary bean ones, i.e. needing poles and stood proudly on their own without the need for assistance of any kind. They flowered, and then the beans came. Since I have more ants in our garden than I would dare to imagine I came across something unexpected. One day when I looked a bit closer at the plants, I noted black patches at the top. Tiny black little bugs sat fixed to the stem and flowers. This was the first time I came across these little, disgusting plant lice; blackfly. The ants protect the blackfly, while the blackfly produce honeydew which the ants eat. It’s a match made in heaven for the two species and the pests from hell for me. The blackfly sucked every last drop of life from my beautiful green soldiers until they resembled the poor unfortunate souls captured by Ursula, the Sea Witch, in The Little Mermaid. (No, I haven’t watched the movie with Gabriel for like 10 000 times already. Oh dear, I’m not fooling anyone, am I?) I salvaged one meal’s worth of beans before they bit the dust and they tasted divine simply boiled. Year after year I keep trying to grow broad beans and every single time the ants/blackfly get to them! It leaves me feeling quite depressed…
For a long time I stood in the shop staring at the fresh broad beans boxed in big cases. It really peeves me to buy something at the shops when I know it can grow perfectly well in my backyard. Those damn ants! Bloody blackfly! The old lady shuffled away quicker than I thought she could, trying to get away from the nutcase who mutters to herself. Ah well, I couldn’t resist any longer. I had to have broad beans. It was as simple as that.
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P.S. Each bean was shelled lovingly before meeting its gory end.
📖 Recipe
Broad Bean & Lemon Risotto
- Total Time: 60 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
Ingredients
- 350g (12 oz) fresh or frozen broad beans
- salt and pepper
- 15g (1 tbsp) butter
- 1 medium onion, finely chopped
- 200g (7 oz) arborio (risotto) rice
- 1 litre (1 ¾ pints) hot vegetable stock
- grated rind and juice of 1 lemon
- grated Parmesan, optional
Instructions
- Cook the broad beans in a large pan of boiling salted water for 3-5 minutes or until just tender. Plunge into ice-cold water to cool. Drain, peel off the outer skin, if wished, and set aside.
- Melt the butter in a large saucepan, add the onion and cook over a medium heat for 5 minutes or until beginning to soften. Add the rice and continue to cook, stirring for 1-2 minutes.
- Pour in a ladleful of the hot stock and simmer gently, stirring frequently until the rice has absorbed most of it. Keep adding the stock I nthis way until the rice is tender but still has bite to it; this will take about 15-20 minutes. The risotto should look creamy and soft when cooked.
- Add the broad beans, lemon rind and juice and warm through.
- Serve the risotto immediately, garnished with grated Parmesan and lemon rind.
- Prep Time: 35 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 serving
- Calories: 327
- Sugar: 2.1 g
- Sodium: 110 mg
- Fat: 6.5 g
- Saturated Fat: 2.4 g
- Carbohydrates: 56.8 g
- Fiber: 3.6 g
- Protein: 9.6 g
- Cholesterol: 8 mg
Renil M. George
I love bean, who doesn't?
Claudine
As Matt says, the best trick is to pinch out the top of the plants as soon as you see the little buggers appear. It does not fail to work and any experienced gardener will tell you that this is THE solution. Also, most chefs will tell you that if you do not grow broad beans or they are not in season or you have run out, use good quality frozen ones. Some say they are as good or even better than the fresh ones. So, no more reason to be without these little nuggets of flavor and, I shall definitely try your yummy recipe. Thanks for that!
Yvette
I had the same problem with the horrid blackflys and a solution of water and washing up liquid sprayed directly onto the problem areas will quickly rid them for you! as a result I have plenty of broad bean pods getting fatter by the day and cannot wait to try the lemon and broad bean risotto.
Matt
You need to pinch out the top of the plant when it starts to flower. This makes the plant stockier but also gets rid of the most tender part that the blackfly love most - as a result much fewer blackfly. The bits you pinch off are also lovely lightly boiled with butter.
Susan
I've had problems with aphids/ants b/4, but spraying them off repeatedly with water or introducing ladybugs into the garden worked for me w/out resorting to pesticides.
Thanks for joining in MLLA2 with this light & refreshing risotto, Michelle.
Jeanne
Mmm, I adore broad beans! And I must say that this risotto looks astonishingly good - so vibrant and summery (unlike the weather!).
Don't talk to me abotu blackfly... There is a lovely wild cherry that overhangs our garden from next door and every year the tips of its branches get infested with blackfly. And then they drop down onto my pots and infest my plants!! They have killed loads of my nasturtiums and poppies and usually I just spray them to death, but this year I'm growing tomatoes and butternuts so can't really spray. Luckily though the weird weather we've had seems to have controlled the blackfly this year (in my garden anyway!) and there isn't as much as in previous years. I find that 100% vigilance is the only way forward - remove the suckers twice a day if necessary. I've also heard that spraying with a solution of fairy liquid and water helps, without poisoning you. And of course, as other readers say, kill the ants!
Lina at MY LIFE IS YUMMY
eck ants! but your dish looks wonderful!
Rajani
yoo hoo another award your way - from me this time. drop by my blog. great recipe!!
holler
This looks really, really lovely! I just know I would enjoy this 🙂
[eatingclub] vancouver || js
Oh my goodness, sorry to hear about the pest problem. Eck.
The lemon and broad bean risotto looks great, though. I love the simplicity of it. It's quite beautiful.
Susan from Food Blogga
Are your broad beans what we call fava beans in the States? It looks like it from the pic. The addition of the lemon must give it a refreshing zesty flavor too. Just lovely.
katie
I had the same problem with the ants and aphids. I discovered a 2-prong solution: Hoe the ant hills every few days day - they'll eventually move but before they do they'll be too busy to herd their charges.
and, 2nd, sprinkle polenta around the ant hills - it kills them - but is not as reliable as the hoeing!
Also, hoeing will expose the eggs...
Alexa
This sounds like a yummy recipe. I am sorry about your gardening mishaps. Perhaps, a local nursery would have a miracle cure/advice for you if you try it again next year. Here I am saying that and my garden has done so poorly this year 🙂
Lore
The photo is quite a BEAUTY and the recipe sounds delicious! I can feel your pain Michelle, same thing happened in my parents' garden at home 🙁