Recipe: Butter bean, Brie & crispy caper salad

 Crisp, salty and piquant, capers take on a new dimension when fried in olive oil; they certainly give this delicious bean salad a lift. The Brie is best when just ripe so it’s soft and oozy without being too runny. Serve simply with crusty bread.

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 6tbsp capers, drained, rinsed and patted dry
• 300g drained canned butter beans, rinsed
• 6 vine-ripened tomatoes, quartered, seeded and chopped
• 100g rocket leaves
• 40g pea shoots
• 200g just-ripe Brie, sliced

For the parsley & garlic dressing: 

• 5tbsp extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for frying
• 1 large garlic clove, peeled and halved
• 2tbsp white wine vinegar
• 1tsp wholegrain mustard
• 4tbsp chopped flat leaf parsley
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

1. Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat and fry the capers for 3-5 minutes or until crisp and starting to colour; take care as they can splutter. Drain on paper towels and leave to cool.

2. Meanwhile, start to make the dressing. Gently heat the rest of the oil and the garlic in a small pan for 2 minutes. Take the pan off the heat and leave to infuse.

3. Tip the butter beans into a large serving bowl and add the tomatoes, rocket and pea shoots.

4. Remove the garlic from the oil and pour it into a jug. Whisk in the vinegar, mustard and parsley. Season, bearing in mind that the capers are salty, and pour the dressing over the salad. Toss to coat the salad in the dressing, and top with the Brie slices and capers.

Extracted from Salads by Nicola Graimes, published by Ryland Peters & Small (£14.99)

Photography by Matt Russell © Ryland Peters & Small

Also try this Ossau-Iraty salad