This Roasted Romano Beans recipe features tender beans paired with a rich tomato sauce and perfectly poached eggs, creating a flavorful and satisfying dish ideal for any dinner.
INGREDIENTS
Serves 4 people
Ingredient | Quantity | Notes |
Celery | 3 sticks | small, diced |
Carrot | 2 | small, diced |
Yellow Onion | 1/2 | small, diced |
Olive Oil | 2 tbsp | plus more for plating |
Garlic | 2 clove | crushed |
Canned Whole Tomatoes | 28 oz | |
Salt | 2 tsp | plus more for plating |
Red Pepper Flakes | 1 pinch | |
Romano Beans | 2 lb | rinsed, stem end cut off |
Egg | 4 | free range |
Parsley | garnish |
PREPARATION
Preheat the oven to 450°F (232 °C).
Yes 450! I like to roast my veggies hot. They get a nice char on them and cook quickly, maintaining their freshness. Your kitchen may get smoky, but the flavor will be worth it. Come to my house around dinner time and you may see all of the windows and doors flung open!
Start by finely dicing
the carrot, celery and onion. This can be done efficiently by 1/8” cutting planks, then cutting those into sticks, line them all up and dice them. It can be a fun game (or maybe I just have a crazy idea of fun) to try to cut them all into perfect squares.
Make the sauce.
In a heavy bottomed pot, heat 1TB of the olive oil until nice and warm. Add the vegetables and cook about 10 minutes, stirring regularly, until they have some color. Add the crushed garlic and cook another 2 minutes.
While the vegetables are cooking,
open your can of tomatoes and pour into a bowl. With your hands, squeeze the tomatoes to lightly crush them. Cooking is messy! Add the entire can - liquid and tomatoes - to the pot once the garlic has a little color on it. Simmer, stirring from time to time, for 20 minutes. The sauce will reduce and thicken a bit. Add 1 tsp salt and chili flake. Taste and adjust seasoning.
Roast the beans.
During the time that sauce is simmering, toss the Romano beans with 1 TB olive oil and 1 tsp of salt until coated. Lay on a sheet tray in a single layer (you may need two trays), and set in your hot oven. Roast until they are beginning to get soft and are nicely charred on at least one side, about 15 minutes. You will want to flip them around at least once or twice to cook them evenly.
Poach the eggs just before serving.
Set a small pot of water to boil. You want about 3 inches of water, or enough to fully cover the eggs. When the sauce and the romanos are finished cooking, set your pot of water to a low simmer. Crack each egg gently into the water. A nice soft poached egg will take about 3 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon once the whites are firm, and the yolk is still soft.
Plate up!
Lay the romano beans on the plate first and top with a few spoonfuls of sauce. Nestle the egg into the beans. Sprinkle with sea salt, chopped parsley, chili flake, and drizzle with olive oil. If you find you want a bit more acidity to the dish, splash a small amount of sherry or red wine vinegar over the sauce.