Green beans with tarragon, garlic and toasted almonds

Summer

This isn’t the first time I’ve played around with the bean-and-tarragon marriage and I imagine it won’t be the last. It’s just a marvellous thing, worth fighting for, so I keep coming back to it with the hope of finding new ways to keep them together. In this case, I’ve introduced them to slivers of fragrant garlic and crisp, toasted almonds, which have taken their relationship in a wonderful new direction and everybody’s happy.

Serves 2

Ingredients

300g (10½oz) French beans
2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 handful of flaked almonds
1 large knob of unsalted butter
2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 handful of tarragon, leaves picked
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

Snip or pick the tougher stalks from the top of each bean. Bring a large pan of well-salted water to the boil and drop in the beans. Cook for 3–5 minutes, depending on how tender you like them, then drain in a colander.

Return the pan to a medium heat, add half the olive oil and, when it’s warm, add the almonds and season with some salt and pepper. Toast the flaked nuts lightly for a few minutes – you’ll need to give the pan a good shake so they brown evenly. Scrape out the nuts onto a plate and return the pan to the heat for a third time. Drop in the butter and remaining olive oil and when the butter is melted and it’s all bubbling away, add the garlic. Cook for 1 minute or so, or until the garlic is just starting to turn a light golden colour around the edges.

Return the beans to the pan and turn them through the garlicky butter. Scatter over the tarragon and season with plenty of salt and pepper. Tip the beans out onto a warm platter and scatter over the toasted almonds before serving.

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