Borlotto beans and green beans with pecorino romano and vinaigrette
Mar 2nd, 2009 by Amy
I am still reeling from an amazing weekend and will hopefully be posting a recap of Organicology and our visit to Beast in a future post. For now, I will share a great recipe, again out of the Heirloom Beans cookbook. The recipe recommends Wren’s Egg beans, but I used Ayers Creek Farm borlotto lamon beans instead. Speaking of Ayers Creek, I saw Anthony at Organicology. He was a panelist at the Local Food Systems intensive where we also got a preview of an upcoming film called Ingredients. Anthony and Carol Boutard along with local Cattail Creek farmer, John Neumeister, and a number of Portland area farmers were all featured in the film. Watch for local screenings in the summer and fall. And as long as we are talking about local food films, Willamette Farm and Food Coalition is currently working on bringing the directors of Good Food, another Northwest food film, to Eugene for a screening in April. Stay tuned for details.
On to the salad… borlotto lamon beans may be the most amazing beans I have ever tasted. They are about the size of a pinto or cranberry bean when dried, but they get huge when they are cooked, probably close to the size of a full sized jelly bean. And they are tasty. Local food blogger, Eugenia, at Culinaria Eugenius says they have a taste reminiscent of chesnuts. According to a post on The Culinary Addict, Anthony explains that borlotto lamon beans are borlotti beans from the town of Lamon in Italy.
We were able to make this with almost all local ingredients by incorporating frozen green beans and canned tomatoes from our garden.
Borlotto lamon beans and green beans with pecorino romano and vinaigrette, adapted from Heirloom Beans
Serves 4
Vinaigrette
1 salt packed anchovy fillet
2 garlic cloves
salt
2 large or 4 small fresh or canned plummed tomatoes
1 tsp dijon mustard
2 Tbsp red wine vinegar
2/3 cup olive oil
Freshly ground pepper
Salad
1 lb green beans, trimmed and cut into 1/2 in pieces
1-1/2 cups cooked borlotto lamon beans, drained (substitute a cranberry bean if you can’t get borlotto lamon beans)
1/2 cup finely chopped parsley
1/4 lb pecorino romano, cut into 1/4 in dice
Salt and pepper
Make the vinaigrette. Put the anchovy in a mortar, and add garlic and a pinch of salt. Pound with pestle until you form a paste. Add to food processor with tomatoes, mustard, and vinegar. Add olive oil slowly, and pulse until well mixed. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Bring a pot of salted water to boil. Add green beans and cook until tender, 3-5 minutes. Drain and pat dry. Toss grean beans and borlotto lamon beans, parsley, cheese, and enough vinaigrette to coat. Season with salt and pepper.
For other bean recipes and information on this site, click here.
