This recipe for a perfect pot of beans features tender beans cooked with aromatic vegetables and herbs, seasoned to taste, and finished with lemon and parmesan for a deliciously hearty dish.
INGREDIENTS
Serves 4 people
Ingredient | Quantity | Notes |
Dried Beans | 1 3/5 cup | butter beans or other |
Fennel Tops | 2 2/5 | |
Celery | 4/5 stalk | |
Carrot | 4/5 | |
Yellow Onion | 4/5 | or leek |
Parsley | 6 2/5 sprig | |
Thyme | 4 4/5 sprig | |
Bay Leaf | 4/5 | |
Parmesan Rind | ||
Lemon | 1 3/5 | |
Olive Oil | 1/5 cup | |
Salt | 2 2/5 tsp | |
Red Pepper Flakes | 4/5 pinch | |
Parmesan | for grating |
PREPARATION
Soak the beans.
Place in a large bowl or container (keeping in mind that they will double in size). Cover with water up to double the height of the beans. Leave uncovered in the fridge overnight.
Prep the vegetables.
Roughly chop the fennel tops, celery, carrot and onion or leek. You will be removing these once the beans are finished cooking, so larger chunks are ideal. Try to get them about the same size, that of a quarter piece of onion. Make a bundle with the parsley, thyme and bay leaf. Using kitchen twine tie them all together - this is called a bouquet garni.
Cook the beans.
In a large pot, heat 2 TB of olive oil. Add the fennel tops, celery, carrot, onion or leek, bouquet garni. Cook over medium low heat for 4-5 minutes to begin to soften. Drain the beans, discard the water and add them to the pot along with the parmesan rind. Cover 1-2” over the top of the beans with water or stock. Bring to a simmer and reduce heat to low. Cook until beans are completely tender, 40-50 minutes depending on the type of bean.
Season the beans.
Discard the vegetables from the pot. Add 3 tsp of salt and a pinch of chile flake to the pot. Stir and taste. Add more if you like. To serve, spoon the beans into a shallow bowl, broth and all, and add a generous squeeze of lemon and drizzle of olive oil to each. Don’t be shy! Finish with a grating of parmesan.