Braised beans, courgette and mint

This is a lovely light lunch for July. Best eaten outdoors with a glass of chilled white wine.

INGREDIENTS

200g butter beans (soaked overnight) 1 shallot

1 stick of celery ½ head of fennel 2 cloves garlic, cracked with the flat of a knife

1 sprig of thyme 1 bay leaf

Olive oil 2 courgettes, sliced into rounds

1 fresh onion (eg grellot or tropea), the bulb sliced into half moons, the leaves chopped into rounds

Salt and pepper

Pinch of chili flakes Juice ½ lemon 3 strips of lemon peel, pith removed 1 handful mint leaves, torn 1 handful parsley, chopped

2 slices of bread (we use our sourdough) 100g parmesan, grated

METHOD

Place the beans in a pot and cover with water, allowing some extra for the beans to swell. Add the shallot, celery, fennel, garlic, thyme and bay leaf.

Place the beans over a medium heat and allow to simmer until soft, around 45 min, although this can take longer. Top up the water if necessary.

While the beans are cooking, prepare the courgettes. Make sure the pot is large enough to accommodate all the courgettes in an even layer.

Sweat the onions over a medium heat with a good glug of olive oil and the lid on the pot.

When the onions are soft, add the courgettes and onion tops. Season well with salt, pepper, a pinch of chili flakes and lemon juice and rind.

Turn the heat up high and replace lid. Allow the liquid from courgettes to spill out and steam the vegetables, this takes around 5 minutes. Stir often to prevent browning.

Fry the bread in olive oil until crisp and browned. Add a spoonful of liquor from beans to the courgettes before lifting out the beans and adding them to the courgettes. Gently stir everything together with the mint and parsley.

Top the bread with the bean and courgette mixture, add a good splash of olive oil and scatter with the parmesan.