During the growing season, I try to cook with homegrown produce as much as possible, but sometimes I like to use ingredients I haven’t grown, but wish I had. Vegetables that I’d like to put on my “to grow” list, as it were. Runner beans, for instance. Something about their shape and texture really appeals to me, and together with the rich and creamy buffalo mozzarella these lemony beans make for a very luxurious summer dish.

Ingredients (for 2):

2 handfuls of runner beans

salt

zest of 1 lemon

juice of 1/2 lemon

(smoked) sea salt flakes

black pepper

extra virgin olive oil

2 balls of buffalo mozzarella

• Slice the runner beans diagonally.
• Bring a pot of well-salted water (salty like the sea) to a rolling boil and boil the beans for 5 minutes. Then drain and rinse with cold water.
• Zest the lemon with a grater, or, peel the zest with a potato peeler and slice the strips very thinly with a sharp knife.
• Season the beans with the lemon zest and juice, a generous drizzle of olive oil and plenty of black pepper and (smoked) sea salt flakes.

• Put a ball of buffalo mozzarella in the middle of each plate and then arrange the beans around it like a nest.
• Eat like this, as a starter, or with flatbreads dipped in olive oil and salt for a more substantial meal.
• The dressed beans can be kept in the fridge for a day, but they will lose their bright green colour.