Rain drove me in from the allotment and I decided to clean the top shelf of the kitchen cupboard. Found a packet of butter beans close to their use by date and remembered a butter bean mash – or perhaps it was called purée – being praised on the recent series of Masterchef.

Soak the beans over night and then let them cook in water until soft. Salt only in the last minutes of cooking. Drain (but hold back a little of the liquid). Using a blender, make into a mash adding enough of the reserved stock, olive oil and lemon juice to give the right consistency and taste.

I served it with sausages and buttered carrots flavoured with cumin and coriander leaves. Simply delicious!