What are your simple pleasures in the kitchen? The sizzle and spit of a fried egg? The smell of buttered toast, or putting on an apron to mark the end of a day? I like podding beans. I enjoy how it involves hands but not much brain, and how it makes time feel slow and good, like drinking a cup of tea. I also like that it reminds me of my Gujarati aunties doing the same (but with valor beans). And I love not always cooking so much, as in this recipe, where you pod and chop the beans, then mix them with pasta to reveal a simple good meal.

Chopped broad bean trofie with mint and lemon

To save on time, cook the pasta (pop a timer on) while you’re skinning the broad beans.

Prep 10 min
Cook 30 min
Serves 4

650g frozen broad beans
80g extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
80g vegetarian parmesan, finely grated
¾ tsp salt, plus extra for the pasta water
1 unwaxed lemon, zest finely grated, then juiced to get 1½ tbsp
⅛ tsp ground black pepper
400g trofie
20g fresh mint, leaves picked and finely chopped

Put the broad beans in a medium bowl, boil the kettle, then pour the boiling water over the beans. Stir with a spoon, leave for a couple of minutes, then drain off the water. Have ready another couple of small bowls, put on your favourite podcast and skin the beans, putting the beans in one bowl and the skins in the other (discard or compost the latter when you’re done). Pop the beans in a food processor and pulse until finely chopped, or tip them on to a board and run a knife across them over and over, until they’re minced small.

Return the chopped beans to the medium bowl, then stir in the oil, parmesan, three-quarters of a teaspoon of salt, the lemon zest and juice, and the pepper.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil, then salt it well (I use a teaspoon for every litre). Cook the pasta according to the packet instructions and, just before it’s ready, carefully take out a mugful of the pasta cooking water.

Drain the cooked pasta, return it to the pot, then add the broad bean mixture and about six tablespoons of the reserved pasta water. Mix well – it should be loose but not wet – then check for seasoning and adjust the lemon and salt to taste. Fold in the mint, distribute across four bowls and drizzle over extra olive oil just before serving.To save on time, cook the pasta (pop a timer on) while you’re skinning the broad beans.