Nourishing spring vegetable bowl
Celebrate spring with Nici Wickes' recipe for simple bowls of soupy goodness for a family lunch or simple supper. They’re full of flavour and texture, and you can get as inventive as you like
Oct 04, 2016 4:48am- Serves 2
- 15 mins cooking
ingredients
- 3 cup fresh (or frozen) broad beans, podded
- 4 cup vege stock or half/half water/stock
- 100 gram dried gluten-free spaghetti broken into 2cm lengths (about 1 cup dried)
- 2 small pork & fennel sausages (optional), pinched out of casing into small balls
- 4-6 stalks broccolini
- 2 red capsicum, char-grilled (see recipe tips)
- salt and pepper
- 50 gram Parmesan, grated
- lemon, to serve
method
- 1
Simmer the broad beans for 3-5 minutes, then drain. If you wish to double pod them, when beans are cool enough to handle, slip their grey outer skins off, saving the bright green beans inside. Younger, fresh broad beans don’t require double-podding, but as they grow, the grey skins become tough.
- 2
In a medium saucepan, bring the 4 cups of liquid to the boil. Add the broken spaghetti and sausage (if using) and cook for 4 minutes.
- 3
Add the broccolini stalks and cook for 1 minute more, then ladle into bowls.
- 4
Add the sliced char-grilled capsicum and broad beans to each bowl. Season.
- 5
Sprinkle Parmesan and squeeze lemon over each bowl and serve.
notes
- If you’re not there yet with fresh broad beans, frozen broad beans are pefectly fine – especially if you double-pod them. - How to char-grill a capsicum: Cut in half, remove the seeds and pith and discard. Rub all over with olive oil and place, cut side down, on a tray. Grill on high for 10-15 minutes until blistered and blackened in places, then turn and grill for further 5 minutes until softened. Place in a plastic bag, close and let sweat for 5-10 minutes. Slip the skins off. - Omit the sausage for a vegetarian meal.