Broad Beans with Serrano Ham Recipe: a traditional dish with the essence of Granada

Broad beans with Serrano ham is a very easy and typical recipe from Andalusia, especially from Granada. It is a very complete dish, with few ingredients and very quick to make. The recipe consists of sautéing the onion and garlic with the broad beans over a medium heat until they are tender. Then add the Serrano ham, which will add a lot of flavour. On the other hand, you can take advantage of the fact that broad beans with Serrano ham do not require many ingredients to use quality products. The best thing is to use fresh broad beans and a good extra virgin olive oil; a star product in Andalusia, where it has several designations of origin.

Broad beans with Serrano ham are typical of Granada because, when the months of April and May arrive, it is the harvesting season and the province’s vegetable gardens are filled with broad beans. For this reason, it is a dish that is served in most traditional bars and restaurants; as well as in almost all houses using broad beans from the Vega de Granada. Out of season (spring), we can buy them frozen.

Below, we tell you how to prepare this simple, nutritious and traditional recipe for broad beans with Serrano ham.

Ingredients for the Broad Beans with Serrano Ham:

• 450 g of broad beans
• 200 g of diced Serrano ham
• 1 onion
• 1 garlic clove
• Salt
• Olive oil

How to Make the Broad Beans with Serrano Ham:

• First of all, prepare the beans. To do this, remove each bean from its pod and set aside.
• Then, add some olive oil to a frying pan and put it on a medium heat. While the oil is heating up, finely chop the garlic and onion. Then, add them to the frying pan and, when they start to brown, add the beans and sauté until they are tender.
• Then add the Serrano ham and mix well. Do not forget to stir often to prevent the ham from overcooking and hardening. Finally, when the beans with the ham are toasted, rectify the salt.
• Turn off the heat and you can enjoy your broad beans with Serrano ham. When serving them, you can accompany them with a fried egg.