Green beans dressed in breadcrumbs

Fagiolini sfiziosi

Serves 4 Fagiolini sfiziosi

can be translated as beans that are appetising, satiating, frivolous or fanciful – or perhaps all of these things. I came across this simple side dish bursting with fresh flavours during my first visit to Puglia. It’s great to prepare for a barbecue or a picnic as you can make it in advance and, when the flavours have had time to get to know each other, it’s all the better for it. — 400g green beans

— 3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling — 4 spring onions, white part only, thinly sliced

— 20g dry breadcrumbs — handful of flat-leaf parsley leaves, chopped — handful of mint leaves, chopped or torn — juice of 1 lemon Rinse, dry and cut the tops off the beans (if they are very long, you can cut them in half too). Bring a saucepan of salted water to the boil and cook the beans for a few minutes. They should remain bright green and have a slight bite to them.

In the meantime, fill a bowl with iced water. Drain the beans, then transfer them immediately to the iced water to cool them down quickly and stop them from cooking. Set aside to dry on clean tea towels.

Heat the oil in a pan over a low-medium heat and cook the sliced spring onions until softened and slightly golden. Add the breadcrumbs, season with salt and pepper, and continue cooking for a few minutes, or until the crumbs are golden and crisp, then remove from the heat.

In a bowl, toss together the drained beans, the breadcrumb mixture, herbs, lemon juice and an extra drizzle of olive oil. You can serve this dish immediately while warm, but I also like it at room temperature.