Fava Bean Colcannon Bake By Chef Ali Honour
A St. Patrick’s Day Ode to Beans + Brassicas!
If you’ve ever driven through the Irish countryside, you’ve likely passed fields bursting with fava beans—though most of them aren’t destined for our plates. Instead, they’re grown for livestock, which, frankly, is a crying shame because they’re one of the easiest, most climate-friendly, and downright delicious crops we produce. Hardy, nitrogen-fixing, and requiring little more than rain (of which we have plenty), they thrive in Irish soil. Yet, despite our long history of humble, hearty dishes, beans rarely get a look-in on the dinner table. Time to change that.
Enter colcannon, the creamy, comforting mash-up of spuds and greens that’s been warming Irish bellies for centuries. And, of course, the British have their own thrifty take in bubble and squeak, frying up yesterday’s leftovers into crisp, golden cakes. Having spent enough time across both islands, I see no reason why we can’t bring these traditions together for St. Patrick’s Day—with a bean-powered twist.
This Fava Bean Colcannon Cake is everything good food should be: crispy-edged, soft-centred, packed with homegrown GIY Green goodness, and unapologetically smoothered in satisfying Irish butter (Well it is a treat day). They celebrate a future where we eat more of what we grow, less of what we import, and plenty of what actually nourishes us. Plus, they pair beautifully with a pint, which is what really matters on Paddy’s Day.
Ingredients:
- 850g dried fava beans, soaked overnight in bowl of water
- 200g kale
- 200g cabbage
- 75g butter
- big bunch flat leaf parsley
- 2-3 cloves garlic,crushed
- Then more butter melted for the final
- Salt and pepper
Method:
Drain and rinse the beans. Add them to sauce pan with good pinch of salt and cover to top with water, bring to boil then simmer till soft about 35- 40 minutes.
Wash cabbage + kale, removing any thick stalks, from kale. Finely slice them both. In a large pan, melt the butter over medium heat. Then saute the greens and garlic for about 6-8 minutes.
Drain beans over a bowl and set water aside, either give beans a blitz in food processor or mash with potato masher.
Add mash to pan with chopped parsley and mix throughly, check seasoning for salt and add a good few grinds of black pepper.
Butter an oven proof dish, and pour mash mix into it, spread out evenly then brush melted butter over the top. Bake in preheated oven 200c 180 fan for 35-40 minutes till golden and crispy around the edges.
Work’s for breakie, lunch or dinner, I love it topped with an egg and pickles.
