Flageolet Bean Soup With Tomatoes Sage Recipes

FLAGEOLET BEAN SOUP WITH TOMATOES & SAGE

Steps:

• Pick through the beans, discard any stones, and rinse well. Place in a wide, heavy pot and cover with two inches of water. I use a Le Creuset pot that allows the beans to lay in a single layer. Bring to a simmer over medium high heat, and maintain a simmer for about an hour. Drain the beans but reserve any bean broth left. I frequently have a good 2 cups or more left over.
• Put the beans back in the pot and add the remaining ingredients EXCEPT the salt and vinegar. Simmer for 45 minutes or until the beans are tender. Add salt and balsamic vinegar.
• Serve with a few grates of Parmesan cheese on top.

FRENCH FLAGEOLET BEANS

Steps:

• The night before cooking, place the beans in a large bowl and cover them with water by 1 inch. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
• The next day, preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Drain the beans, rinse well, and drain again. In a large ovenproof pot such as Le Creuset, heat the olive oil over medium to medium-low heat, add the bacon, and cook for 4 to 5 minutes, until the bacon starts to brown. Add the onion, fennel, and carrots and cook for 7 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables begin to soften but aren't browned. Add the garlic and saute for 1 to 2 more minutes.
• Add the flageolets to the pot and stir in the broth, bay leaves, and rosemary. (Don't be tempted to add salt! The beans will become tough.) Add 2 cups of water, which should just cover the beans, and bring to a simmer on top of the stove. Cover the pot tightly and bake in the oven for 45 minutes. Remove the lid, stir in 1 tablespoon salt and 1 teaspoon pepper, and return the pot to the oven without the lid. Raise the temperature to 350 degrees and bake for 30 to 45 more minutes. The beans will be very tender and there will be just a little liquid in the bottom of the pan. (If the beans are dry, add a little more water.) Discard the bay leaves and rosemary. Taste for seasonings and serve hot.

TOMATO AND WHITE BEAN SOUP WITH LOTS OF GARLIC

Steps:

• Peel the garlic, then smash the cloves using a meat pounder or the bottom of a heavy skillet until wispy and flat.
• In a medium saucepan over medium-low heat, heat the olive oil, then add the crushed garlic, and cook, smashing with the back of a wooden spoon and stirring occasionally, until golden brown and beginning to stick to the bottom of the pan, 3 to 5 minutes.
• Add the white beans and their liquid, crushed tomatoes, stock or water, and season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, then partly cover, reduce heat, and let simmer until thickened and fragrant, 15 to 20 minutes.
• Using an immersion or regular blender, purée the soup until smooth. Add cream or stock or water to thin as desired. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Drizzle with heavy cream before serving.

FLAGEOLET

Steps:

• Place beans in a large stockpot. Cover with cold water by 2 inches; let soak overnight in the refrigerator.
• Transfer beans to a colander to drain. Return to stockpot; cover with 8 cups water. Add rosemary and bay leaf. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, and simmer, covered, until beans are tender, about 1 hour 10 minutes. Transfer to a serving bowl; discard herbs. Gently toss with oil, and season with salt and pepper. Serve.

FLAGEOLET BEAN CASSEROLE

Steps:

• Cover the beans in cold water by at least three inches of liquid and allow to soak overnight.
• When your beans have soaked, heat the onion and garlic in 2 tablespoons of the oil in a large heavy saucepan over medium heat for about ten minutes.
• Add prosciutto (if the end--add it whole, if a slice, cut into dice and add), the drained beans, the stock and the bouquet garni.
• Bring to a simmer, partially cover the pot and continue to simmer very gently, stirring every twenty minutes or so (and adding additional broth or water if the beans become dry) for about one and a half hours or until the beans have softened completely.
• Stir the tomatoes into the beans and cook uncovered until the beans are no longer submerged in liquid.
• If you used a prosciutto end, remove it and peel off and discard the rind, chop the remaining meat and add back into the beans.
• Preheat the oven to 350°F.
• Process the bread in your blender or food processor (or grate using the larger holes on your box grater).
• Spread the beans in an 8 - 12 cup gratin or baking dish.
• Sprinkle the surface with the bread crumbs and the remaining olive oil; bake for thirty minutes or until the surface is golden brown.

SUMMER BEAN SOUP WITH TOMATO BROWN BUTTER

Steps:

• To make the soup:
• Combine the dried beans and kombu in a large container and cover with plenty of water to soak for at least 4 hours or overnight; skip this step if using fresh beans.
• Drain the beans and kombu and add them to a large pot with enough water to cover by about 1 in. (if using fresh beans, add the kombu now). Bring to a boil over medium-high heat; meanwhile, halve the tomatoes and cut the celery, carrot, and leek into about 3 in. pieces. As soon as the water boils, decrease the heat to medium-low and add the vegetables to the pot, along with the whole shallots and minced garlic. Continue to cook at a gentle simmer until the beans are very creamy, 60 to 90 minutes for dried beans and about half that for fresh.
• Remove the pot from the heat and use a slotted spoon to reserve the tomatoes; remove and discard the other vegetables.
• Set up a sieve over a heat proof container and strain the beans (there should be about 3 cups or 480 g), reserving all the cooking liquid.
• In a blender, combine 1 cup (160 g) of the cooked beans with 2 cups (480 ml) of the cooking liquid, plus the tomatoes, anchovies, oil, maple syrup, salt, red pepper flakes, and mustard. Purée until extremely smooth, pour into a large bowl, and fold in the reserved cooked beans by hand. At this point, you can serve it right away or transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 3 days, gently rewarming over medium-low heat when you're ready to serve.
• To make the baked beans:
• While the bean soup is cooking, preheat the oven to 325°F. Cut the bacon into ¼ in. lardons; reserve 3 whole beans for garnish and cut the rest into 2 to 3 in. pieces.
• In a medium saucepan or Dutch oven, spread the bacon in an even layer and cook over medium-low heat until it starts to turn golden and crisp, about 10 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to remove the pieces but leave the fat behind.
• Increase the heat slightly, and sauté the shallots until translucent, 5 to 10 minutes. Stir in the chopped beans, bacon, and red pepper flakes. Cover with a lid or a tight layer of foil and bake until the beans are very soft, 60 to 90 minutes. Stir in the lemon zest, juice, and garlic as soon as the beans come out of the oven and cover again; the residual steam will cook the garlic.
• To make the salad:
• Thinly slice the pickled green beans on the bias. Combine with the cherry tomatoes, oil, and vinegar.
• To serve, ladle the bean soup into bowls with a big spoonful of the baked beans on top. Garnish with the pickled green bean mix, a swirl of tomato brown butter, crumbled feta, and torn fresh herbs. Leftovers can all be refrigerated in separate airtight containers, though the green bean salad is best on the day it's made, when the beans are most crisp and the tomatoes are fresh.
• Basic wet salt method:
• This works for any amount of dense vegetables or dense, underripe fruit, either whole or cut up, such as carrots, turnips, beets, winter squash, onions, green beans, Brussels sprouts, green tomatoes, small apples, underripe peaches, and whole baby cabbages. Peel off any tough skins, such as on beets, winter squash, and onions, and trim the tops. Leave the vegetables whole or cut them into the desired finished shape. Place the vegetables in a nonreactive container and pour water to completely submerge them; as you do so, keep track of how much water you're adding since the amount of water will dictate the amount of salt (generally 3.5 percent salt by weight of the water for most vegetables, although cucumbers can handle 4 to 5 percent and the increased salt assists with keeping their texture crispy). With a long wooden spoon, stir kosher salt into the brine (or add the salt, cap the jar, and give it a hearty shake) until the salt is dissolved. Place a weight on top of the vegetables to keep them submerged in the brine. Seal the container, using a lid with an airlock if you have one. If you don't have an airlock, you'll just need to open the container every few days or so to release carbon dioxide buildup and check for mold. Place the container in a clean, low-light area with an ambient temperature of 60°F to 68°F until the pickles taste sour, about 3 weeks. Refrigerate indefinitely.

TOMATO BEAN SOUP

Steps:

• Place beans in a Dutch over or soup kettle; add water to cover by 2 in. Bring to a boil; boil for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat; cover and let stand for 1 hour. , Drain beans and discard liquid; return beans to Dutch oven. Add broth, water and bay leaves; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 1-1/4 hours or until the beans are tender. , Meanwhile, in a large skillet, cook bacon, onion, celery and carrots until vegetables are crisp-tender, about 12 minutes. Add sausage, garlic and sugar; cook for 5 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon to Dutch oven. Stir in tomatoes; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 45 minutes or until beans begin to bread apart and soup thickens, stirring occasionally. Add salt, pepper and pepper sauce. Discard bay leaves before serving.