Sautéed broad beans with garlic, mozzarella, and sun-dried tomato

I bring you a broad bean recipe from my daily routine that I love. I adore baby broad beans. I like them simply sautéed with garlic; on the day I want to treat myself I add mozzarella, which when melted is amazing with the broad beans. But how I enjoy them most is by taking just two more minutes and sautéing them with mozzarella, sun-dried tomatoes in oil and pine nuts. What a delicious combination!

The preparation of this recipe is really express: if you have the broad beans cooked, you only need to sauté the ingredients for a few minutes in the pan.

The intensity of the garlic and the sun-dried tomato is softened by the mozzarella, and the pine nuts add a wonderful crunch. Both for their flavor and color I think this is an ideal recipe for the cold months, besides providing lots of energy to get through those grayer seasons.

It's a recipe of adult flavors, really intense and aromatic. I hope you like the combination as much as I do.

WMF Profi Plus stainless steel skillet

Ingredients

• 400 gr of broad beans (fresh or frozen)
• 1 L of water (for cooking them)
• 3 garlic cloves
• A handful of pine nuts
• 1 ball of mozzarella
• 4 pieces of sun-dried tomato in oil
• Olive oil
• Salt
• Black pepper (optional)

Preparation

For the recipe, first we need to cook the broad beans. The following process will take just a few minutes.

To cook the broad beans in a pressure cooker using steam:

Put the water in the WMF Perfect pressure cooker, place the broad beans in the steam basket and set it in the pot. Close and turn on the heat. Leave on high until it reaches the second pressure ring and lower the heat to minimum. Wait 3 minutes and turn off the heat. Let the pot depressurize on its own, open and set aside the steamed broad beans.

To cook the broad beans in a conventional pot:

Put a saucepan or pot with water on the heat and wait for it to boil. Add a dessert spoon of salt and add the broad beans. Wait about 20 minutes, until you see that many of the beans float and are wrinkled, then remove from the heat. Drain with a colander and set aside.

Recipe preparation:

1. In a stainless steel skillet (I used the Profi skillet from WMF), pour a few tablespoons of oil and heat it over medium heat.
2. Thinly slice or finely chop the garlic (to your taste) and sauté it in the skillet. Turn the heat to minimum.
3. When it starts to take on a golden tone, add the pine nuts and toast them a bit.
4. While the pine nuts are cooking, chop the sun-dried tomato slices. The size is a matter of taste; I like to find big pieces, but cut into small cubes it will mix more evenly with the broad beans in every bite.
5. Sauté the tomato for a minute and add the cooked broad beans. Lightly salt and pepper.
6. Add the buffalo mozzarella cut into large pieces, mix until you see it start to melt and remove from the heat.

Ready to serve!

Pressure cooker basket and Revol porcelain casserole

Notes

• If you have roasted garlic, have a couple of cloves and the oil they are preserved in on hand, as it will already be flavored (you can see how to make them in this post). Replace one of the fresh garlic cloves with roasted garlic, and add a spoonful of the roasted garlic preservation oil to the skillet. You'll see what a great aroma the recipe takes on!
• Remember that both garlic and sun-dried tomato already have very intense aromas. That's why you practically don't need to add salt or pepper to the mix, but do it to your taste.
• Optionally, we can serve with some toasted sliced hazelnuts as well.
• Personally I don't like broad beans very soft. When they reach a tender point I remove them from the cooking water. If you cook them too long they will become very soft and lose much of their skin, making the dish less presentable. Cook the broad beans just enough.

One reason for making this recipe is to help you lose the fear of stainless steel skillets. You can see it didn't stick even a little! Stainless steel skillets are very durable (they're not nonstick), require no seasoning, don't rust, are lightweight... And they are 100% healthy! Free of toxins, they are very popular in Nordic countries, where nonstick has never been as successful as here. Stainless steel pans are very practical and an investment for your kitchen and your health. And while there is the possibility that some foods may stick, it's all a matter of getting used to them. It wasn't hard for me at all!