How to make organic Jersey royal, broad bean and crispy shallot salad

Jersey Royals, the king of potatoes, make merry with the first of this year’s British broad beans along with heaps of fresh herbs, a creamy crème fraîche dressing and crispy fried shallots. TIP: Broad beans can be tender in the summer, so you won’t always need to pop the broad beans out of their grey skins once they have been boiled, but you can if you want to. The easiest way is to squeeze one end till the bean pops out of the skin – do this over a bowl to catch them. It should take about 10 minutes.

500g Jersey Royal new potatoes
500g broad beans in the pod
3 shallots
A handful of mint, leaves only
A handful of sorrel
1 lemon
200g crème fraîche​
Sea salt
1 tbsp olive oil
Freshly ground pepper

Put a large pan of salted water on to boil. Scrub the Jersey Royals and chop them into bite-sized chunks. Pop the broad beans out of their pods.

When the water is boiling, carefully add the potatoes to the pan. Simmer for 12 minutes till you can nearly pierce them with a knife.

Add the broad beans to the pan and cook for a further three minutes. The potatoes should be tender. Drain and leave in the colander to steam dry (see our tip on double podding the broad beans).

While the potatoes simmer, peel and finely slice the shallots. Add one tbsp olive oil to a frying pan set on a medium heat. Add the shallots with a pinch of salt. Fry for five to six minutes till crispy. Tip onto a plate lined with kitchen paper to drain.

Meanwhile, finely chop the mint leaves and finely slice the sorrel. Zest the lemon into a large mixing bowl and squeeze in the juice from one half. Add the crème fraîche, season and stir to make a dressing.

Tip the broad beans and potatoes into the bowl with the crème fraîche dressing. Add half the mint and sorrel. Toss and pop in a salad bowl. Scatter over the remaining herbs and the crispy shallots. Serve with the spare lemon half, cut into wedges.

Recipe from abelandcole.co.uk