The simplest of simple Tuscan dishes. Slow cooked Cannellini beans infused with sage. Two hundred and fifty grams of dried beans were soaked for about 12 hours overnight and then put into the our small cast iron Le Creuset casserole dish. This will just fit onto the Mini BGE and allow the lid to close. Into the dish was poured a few generous slugs of olive oil and 15-20 torn sage leaves together with some salt and pepper. The dish was then topped up with water so the top of the water almost covered the beans – but not quite! The pot was then put into the BGE at the end of a cook and the residual heat from the Egg used to slow cook the beans – in truth the first time we did this we just let the BGE continue cooking for around 45 mins and then closed off the vents – on other occasions we have closed off the vents straight away – but this sometimes results in partially cooked beans – no problem if you don’t need them immediately – just put them in the fridge and put them back on the BGE during the cooling cycle during tomorrows cook!
These are a great store cupboard/fridge ready dish – served by themselves, warm or cold, with some crusty bread, warmed with a steak or cold with a terrine – a great choice!
Slow cooked Tuscan Beans with Sage
Tuscan style beans - slow cooked
Ingredients
- 250g dried Cannellini beans
- Water to soak
- Olive Oil
- Sage leaves
- Salt and Pepper
Directions
- Step 1 Soak 250g dried Cannellini beans for around 12 hours overnight
- Step 2 Put the rehydrated beens into a heavy casserole dish and add some generous slugs of olive oil. Tear 8-10 sage leaves and mix in with the beans, add salt and pepper. Top up with water so it just reaches the top of the beans – no more
- Step 3 Put the dish into the BGE at the end of a cook and use the residual heat to cook the beans (or cook on a low heat for a couple of hours) – check after about 2 hours to make sure there is enough liquid- and if necessary add just a little boiling water. If not fully cooked when the BGE is cool then pop in the fridge until ready and warm on a low heat when needed – or simply pop back into the BGE on the cooling cycle if you are using it the next day
- Step 4 Served by themselves, warm or cold, with some crusty bread, warmed with a steak or cold with a terrine
- Step 5
Variation
I managed to find an original recipe for fresh beans in Le Ricette Regionali Italian by Anna Gosetti della Salda- It roughly translates as:
STUFFED BEANS Ingredients: for 4 people, fresh cannellini beans 1kg, some sage leaves “virgin” olive oil a lemon – salt – pepper. Pod the beans and put in a terracotta ‘vase’; cover them with cold water (for four times its volume – not sure of this part of the translation), add a few leaves of sage, salt and pepper. Place it on a very low heat, allowing the beans to cook for about 4 hours (ideally they should be “piped” in a corner of the old wood-fueled kitchen). When they are ready, sprinkle with good olive oil, a little lemon juice, salt and pepper, mix carefully and serve hot. Variation: sometimes pieces of tuna or ventresca(?) are combined, or better still thin slices of onion and fillet herring preserved in oil