Seasonal Recipe

Runner bean & tomato braise

Most of us grew up with runner beans as a side vegetable — steamed and served alongside something else. But they deserve to be the star, and this Mediterranean-style braise does exactly that. Slow-cooked in good olive oil with garlic and tomatoes until meltingly tender and silky, the beans soak up all that rich, savoury flavour. Serve warm or at room temperature with plenty of crusty sourdough to mop up the sauce. It's a proper dish in its own right — and a wonderful way to enjoy our first tender Devon runner beans of the season.

Ingredients

• 500g fresh runner beans, trimmed, stringed and sliced into 3cm pieces
• 4 tbsp Andalusian olive oil (ours is available on refill — bring your bottle)
• 1 large onion, finely sliced
• 4 French garlic cloves, sliced
• 1 tin Mr Organic chopped tomatoes
• 3–4 fresh Devon tomatoes, roughly chopped
• 1 tsp sugar
• Small handful fresh parsley, chopped
• Sea salt and black pepper
• Crusty sourdough, to serve

Method

1. Warm the olive oil in a wide, heavy pan over a low-medium heat. Add the onion with a pinch of salt and cook gently for 8 to 10 minutes until soft and sweet, but not browned.
2. Add the sliced garlic and cook for another minute until fragrant.
3. Tip in the tinned tomatoes and the fresh chopped tomatoes, along with the sugar and a good grind of pepper. Stir and let it bubble gently for 5 minutes.
4. Add the runner beans and stir to coat them in the sauce. Pour in a splash of water if it looks dry — the beans should be nearly covered.
5. Cover and simmer very gently for 30 to 35 minutes, stirring now and then, until the beans are silky and tender and the sauce has thickened and turned rich. Don't rush it — slow and low is the secret.
6. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Stir through most of the parsley.
7. Serve warm or at room temperature, scattered with the last of the parsley and a final drizzle of olive oil, with plenty of crusty sourdough alongside.

Cook's notes

• Bread matters: a traditional Bordelaise sourdough or a rustic sourdough baguette is perfect for mopping up the sauce.
• Make it a feast: a crumble of feta or a poached egg on top turns it into a generous lunch.
• Even better next day: like many braises, the flavour deepens overnight — it's lovely cold from the fridge, too.

Everything you need is in the shop and online — our first tender Devon runner beans, Mr Organic and locally grown fresh tomatoes, refillable Andalusian olive oil, French garlic, and our Bordelaise sourdough. Want to know more about this season's runner beans? Read our blog post here.