Although I have never travelled to Italy, my armchair reading has transported me many times to the landscape vibrant with rural life. I “stroll” through the markets, admiring the bountiful produce and beautiful cheeses, lush seafood, dried beans, new chestnuts and mushrooms, fresh chickens, rabbits and sides of lambs. Surrounded by such glorious food inspires us all to cook and eat.
Because the past is always present in Italy, Italian country cooking is irrevocably connected to the land. Whatever the land gives, the creative cook turns into good eating. Land is at the heart of all things Italian. Local food, from their land, from their place in the world, Italians are passionate about their food.
Fagiolini verdi con pomodori, or the recipe for Green Beans with Tomatoes is the perfect example of a simple, intimate combination of fresh, seasonal ingredients that shines with flavor and captures the last fleeting moments of the summer season. Fresh beans are simmered until tender-crisp in a simple sauce of sautéed onions, rich tomatoes, fresh basil and chicken stock.
Delicious at room temperature as part of an antipasti salad, Green Beans with Tomatoes also packs well into the lunch box. It’s a tasty side for grilled chicken or meat, and we enjoyed this dish with cod baked in a sauce of fresh tomatoes, mushrooms, celery and onions. For an easy supper, serve this dish up with penne pasta in a ricotta cream sauce.
To prepare the pasta sauce, mix fresh ricotta with enough hot water to form a dense cream, then add a tablespoon of olive oil and season to taste with Maine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Cook the pasta until al dente, drain, and toss the pasta with the ricotta cream sauce. Grate some pecorino or Parmesan cheese on top and sprinkle with fresh basil. Add the Green Beans with Tomatoes and enjoy.
Ingredients are everything in good food. Every time I harvest the last of the fresh basil, the vine-ripened tomatoes, and the snappy green beans to prepare Green Beans with Tomatoes reminds me that eating with the seasons is the foundation of good, country cooking. Good soil, good food, good health, good life. Buon appetito!
GREEN BEANS WITH TOMATOES
Ingredients
- 1 lb fresh green beans washed and trimmed
- 2 tsp olive oil
- 1 cup onion finely sliced
- 1 1/2 cup tomatoes chopped
- 1/2 cup chicken or vegetable stock
- Maine salt and pepper to taste start with 1/2 tsp of each
- 1/4 cup fresh basil chopped, with extra pieces to garnish
Instructions
- Assemble ingredients and tools. Peel the onion and thinly slice. Set aside. Chop the tomatoes and set aside.
- Chop the basil and set aside.
- In a large skillet with a cover, heat the olive oil and add the onion slices. Sauté the onion until just soft about 5 minutes.
- Add the tomatoes and cook over moderate heat until soft. Add the chicken stock, salt and pepper and basil.
- Stir in the green beans, covering them with the sauce.
- Put the lid on the pan and cook until the beans are tender.
- To serve, garnish with a sprinkling of fresh basil. May be enjoyed hot, cold, or at room temperature
