Visualizzazione post con etichetta beans. Mostra tutti i post
Visualizzazione post con etichetta beans. Mostra tutti i post

3/24/2009

Beans, tuna and red onion salad ( Insalata tonno fagioli e cipolla)


Nothing easier, nothing faster this recipe is a informal appetizer or a quick single course.

It's common along all the Peninsula but you will not easily find it in restaurants because it's considered a little bit coarse...

But the taste is great and almost everyone, at home, prepare it now and then.

Of course you can omit onion if you don't like it or use the white one if you can't find the red.


For 4-6 serves:


4 cups cooked beans (Cannellini or Borlotti, in this preparation I prefer Borlotti but it depends on you; the canned ones work great)


2 medium cans oil packed tuna


1 small red onion sliced thin as much as possible


salt and pepper


extra-virgin olive oil


Drain beans from their water and tuna from its oil, put the beans in a big bowl and crush tuna to avoid too big pieces and add it to beans.

Add the sliced onion and season with salt, pepper and extra-virgin olive oil.

Mix well and serve.

If you want you can add a sprinkle of chopped parsley.

2/27/2008

Borlotti soup with pasta (Pasta e fagioli)

It's a winter soup, it's eaten especially in North of Italy (Veneto, Lombardia, Emilia Romagna and in Tuscany too).

For 4 persons you can use 200gr. of dried borlotti or a can of boiled beans with its water /person (and trust me, the soup with them is pheraps even tastier!).

With dried beans you have to put them in water for 12 hours, then boil them in new salty water for 1 hour and half (about) with canned one you just have to open the tin:D.
Some uses bacon in the base , I prefer ham (just a thin slice crushed tiny).

Put the ham in the pot, add 3 spoons of extra virgin olive oil a clove of garlic crushed gently with the large part of a knife and a little rosmary (on your preference).

Let it fry for a couple of minutes then add all the borlotti except an abundant fistful.

Using the immersion mixer (don't know if it's have a particular name in english, it's the mixer you can immerse in liquids hot or cold directly in the pot or in a bowl or in a tall glass) make a cream blending all the beans then add the rest of borlotti.

Cook on low fire for around 20 minutes, if you want you can add 100 gr. of short pasta (100 gr. for 4 persons, it's seems not so much but the soup is creamy and pasta tend to absorb liquids, if you add more at the end you'll have a concrete block ^^)

If soup results too solid add a glass of water.

Remember to remove the garlic clove:P

Serve hot with grated parmesan and a little olive oil, if you don't add pasta you can toast a slice of bread, pass over it fresh garlic (just a caress^^) and olive oil and serve this plain bruschetta with the soup.