Rachel Roddy's recipe for orzo with peas, broad beans, asparagus, parmesan and lemon | A kitchen in Rome

"This is because the pods are longer and become softer and floppier as they age, so you can see and feel if the beans inside are large and hard, which, like peas, is because their sugar has turned to starch, and which makes them more suited to longer cooking."

"The other thing about broad beans is their opaque jackets, which thicken as the beans age and get more bitter, but they can be removed by picking them off with a nail, or by dunking the beans in hot water for a minute, then in cold water and squeezing the jackets off and across the worktop."

"Even older, larger beans can be enjoyed raw or lightly cooked; they are brighter, too, like green tiddlywinks. As well as dealing with pods, I have been reading about broad beans in recipe books and stories, looking out in particular for references to how they are consumed in spring, which in Italy is often alongside young sheep's cheese a great combination, as is broad beans and lancashire cheese."

"One instance is when Adam, having walked past the leafy walls of scarlet beans, late peas and bushy filberts, strides over a superfluity of broad beans in Mrs Poyser's garden; another when he eats cold broad beans out of a large dish with his pocket knife, and finds a flavour that he would not exchange for the finest pineapple."

Broad bean pods become longer, softer, and floppier as they age, making it easier to judge whether the beans inside are large and hard. Hardness comes from sugar turning to starch, which suits beans to longer cooking. Broad beans also have opaque jackets that thicken and become more bitter with age, and the jackets can be removed by picking them off or by blanching briefly in hot water, cooling, and squeezing them away. Older, larger beans can be eaten raw or lightly cooked and taste brighter. Broad beans are commonly paired in spring with young sheep’s cheese in Italy, and with Lancashire cheese in England. References in George Eliot’s Adam Bede describe Adam eating broad beans from a garden and eating cold broad beans with a pocket knife, praising their flavor. Frozen broad beans can be a reliable alternative, often preserving flavor and consistency better than frozen peas, and both fresh and frozen work for the recipe using orzo.

Read at www.theguardian.com