A few years ago, I spent two weeks cooking in a trullo in Puglia. I was helping to put together a book about the region’s food and cooked the gamut of Puglian classics. This week’s offerings are two favourites from that fortnight that are now in regular rotation back in London. They both ask you to cook until the resulting dish is yielding and soft, breaking with how most of us cook veg these days. The long cook brings out softness and sweetness.

Fava puree with honeyed onions (pictured above)

I serve this to start a meal or as a snack, but it works well anywhere you might use a root veg mash, too.

Soak Overnight

Prep 10 min

Cooking 2 hr 30 min

Serves 4



350g dried broad beans (fava beans)

1 small bunch parsley

4 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

2 large onions, peeled and finely chopped

Salt and black pepper

2 tbsp runny honey

Soak the fava beans in cold water overnight. Bring a large pan of water to the boil and add the beans. Cook for 20 minutes at a rolling boil, then drain (this is an important stage, because it removes toxins from the dried beans).

Put the beans back into the pan, cover with cold water, add the parsley and bring to the boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook for two hours. Try not to stir them – just shake the pan from time to time.

When the beans are close to being cooked, heat one tablespoon of olive oil in a large frying pan, add the onions and a pinch of salt, and cook for 10-15 minutes, until soft and translucent. Add the honey and cook for another few minutes, stirring all the time, until the onions turn golden and sticky.

Once the beans are soft, mash them into a thick puree with a potato masher and season well with salt and pepper. Add the remaining three tablespoons of olive oil and mix. Serve the bean puree with the onions spooned over, alongside bread or crunchy veg for dipping.

Orecchiette with romanesco

To my mind, this is one of the greatest pastas. It is a traditional version of the recipe, though I flash-fry the romanesco leaves with chilli and garlic to save them from being wasted and to add a pleasing crunch on top. I use romanesco broccoli if I can get it. If not, normal calabrese broccoli will work just as well.

Anna Jones’s orecchiette with romanesco. Photograph: Matt Russell/The Guardian

Prep 15 min

Cooking 20 min

Serves 4

1 large head romanesco, or calabrese broccoli (around 1kg), trimmed and cut into florets, leaves reserved

7 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

1 small red chilli, finely chopped

1 pinch red chilli flakes

2 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced

½ tsp fennel seeds

400g orecchiette

50g parmesan, grated (I use a vegetarian one)

Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil, add the romanesco and cook until soft and mashable. Lift the florets from the water with a slotted spoon and set aside. Leave the cooking water in the pan for the pasta.

While the romanesco is cooking, wash and shred the leaves. Heat a large frying pan, warm six tablespoons of the olive oil over a low-medium heat and gently fry the chilli, garlic, fennel seeds and shredded leaves until the edges of the garlic are crisp. Then lift into a bowl with a slotted spoon and put to one side. Put the pan back on the heat with the final tablespoon of olive oil and add the drained romanesco. Cook until about half of it has broken down and become almost creamy.

Meanwhile, bring the cooking water back to the boil, add the pasta and cook until al dente. Using a slotted spoon, lift out the cooked pasta (and the residual water that clings to it) and transfer it to the frying pan. Toss, add the parmesan and stir again, then serve with the chilli and garlic greens on top, passing round more parmesan for those who want it.