French beans with mangetout with hazelnut and orange

Ingredients

• 400g - French beans
• 400g - mangetout
• 70g - unskinned hazelnuts
• 1 - orange
• 20g - chives, roughly chopped
• 1 - garlic clove, crushed
• 3 tbsp - olive oil
• 2 tbsp - hazelnut oil
• flaky sea salt and black pepper

Procedure

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan/Gas Mark 6. Using a small, sharp knife, trim the stalk ends off the French beans and the mangetout, keeping the two separate. Bring plenty of unsalted water to the boil in a large saucepan – you need lots of space for the beans, as this is crucial for preserving their colour. Blanch the French beans in the water for 4 minutes, then drain into a colander and run them under plenty of tap water until cold. Leave to drain and dry. Repeat with the mangetout, but blanch for only 1 minute.
2. While the beans are cooking, scatter the hazelnuts over a baking tray and roast in the oven for 10 minutes. Leave until cool enough to handle, then rub them in a clean tea-towel to get rid of most of the skin. Chop the nuts with a large, sharp knife. They should be quite rough; some can even stay whole.
3. Using a vegetable peeler, remove the zest from the orange in strips, being careful to avoid the bitter white pith. Slice each piece of zest into very thin strips (if you have a citrus zester, you could do the whole job with that).
4. To assemble the dish, mix all the ingredients together in a bowl, toss gently, then taste and adjust the seasoning with some flaky sea salt and a good grind of black pepper. Serve at room temperature.