Beans and Sausage

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When we went to the Hollywood Farmer’s Market we saw fresh Cannellini Beans in the pod. We had never seen them in a market. We like them and decided to buy them. We found a recipe for cooking them in The Food ofCampanile by Mark Peel and Nancy Silverton. At the market we also purchased Smoked Tomatoes. They were dried and had an incredibly smoky aroma. We added them to the recipe.

At McCall’s Meat and Fish we purchased some Fennel and Garlic Sausages to seve with the beans.

To start we had a Little Gem Salad. This was the perfect Pork and Beans!

Cannellini  Beans

The Food of Campanile

Mark Peel Nancy Silverton

Yields   4   to   5   cups

Cannellini beans are almost a meal all by themselves. Just add a drizzle of olive oil, a shaving of Parmesan, and a sprinkle of freshly cracked black pepper; with a good piece of bread and a glass of wine, you can eat your way to blissful satisfaction. To take a slightly more bourgeois approach, these beans make a perfect companion for grilled steak with black olive tapenade. A drizzle of truffle oil adds an air of true elegance to what most people would consider crude peasant food. Nancy especially likes to eat these beans cold with a fork, standing at the open refrigerator door.

If cannellini beans are not available, great northern beans, although a little smaller and not quite as flavorful, can be used. This cooking method can also be used for a wide variety of beans—borlotti, scarlet runners, small navy, cranberry—-just about any kind of dried bean.

2         tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

½         large onion, peeled, trimmed, and diced (1/2 cup)

6         garlic cloves, peeled and lightly crushed

1         teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary

1-1/2         teaspoons chopped fresh thyme 1 bay leaf

1         smoked ham hock, or 1/4 pound bacon, in 1 piece

3         tablespoons balsamic vinegar

8 to 9 cups Chicken Stock, or a mixture of half stock and half water

2         cups dry cannellini beans (1pound), rinsed

Kosher salt

Freshly cracked black pepper                           /

Have   ready

The Chicken Stock, warm, in a large saucepan
over low heat

In a large, heavy-bottomed stockpot, over low heat, preheat the olive oil. Sweat the onion with the garlic, rosemary, thyme, and bay leaf until the onion is translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the ham hock or slab of bacon, vinegar, 5 cups of the stock, and the dry beans. Increase the heat and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, and simmer very gently, just barely bubbling the beans are tender, about 1 to 2 hours, adding stock as needed to keep the bean covered. Periodically skim any foam that rises to the top. This keeps the broth clear. If the heat setting is low enough, the beans should not stick to the bottom of the pot. Using a rubber spatula, gently stir the beans only once every 30 minutes; if stirred more often, they might break apart. Season with kosher salt and black pepper to taste.

Remove the ham hock or bacon and bay leaf. Discard the bay leaf. Allow the ham hock or bacon to cool. Using your fingers, separate the meat of the ham hock from the fat and the bone, shred the meat, and add it to the beans. Or, using a sharp knife, cut the bacon into 14-inch dice, and add it to the beans. Use as desired, or refrigerate, covered, up to 1 week.