Shell Beans

Pasta e Fagioli | Simple Shell Beans | Soupe au Pistou

Edamame

Edamame represents the coming together of two of our favorite things: vegetables and salty snacks. I'm not sure I remember the first time I tried edamame in a Japanese restaurant, but I do remember that it was a revelation. It was like noshing on peanuts, but green and even healthy-seeming.

Edamame are soybeans. Millions of acres in this country are devoted to the cultivation of the soya bean, and this massive harvest is processed into everything from hog feed to Fakin' Bacon. But edamame are a little different. They were bred by Japanese farmers over many centuries to be extremely tender in their green state, designed to be eaten fresh with minimal cooking.

Just boil or steam them in their pods for 3 to 5 minutes, then drain and toss with coarse salt. Next, open a cold, crisp beer, and dive in. They're fun to snap open or squeeze out with your teeth; a steaming treat, nutty and beany and sweet and salty and delicious.

Edamame can also be pre-shelled and added to stir-fries or fried rice. The Whole Foods salad bar features an inspired salad of shelled edamame, hijiki seaweed and shredded carrots in a sesame-soy dressing.  

Freezing

Freeze shelled beans in quart or gallon-size freezer bags. No boiling necessary.

Barlotti Beans

Recipes

Pasta e Fagioli

• 1 lb barlotti beans, shelled
• 2 slices bacon or pancetta, diced (optional)
• 1 cipollini onion, finely chopped
• 1 carrot, finely chopped
• 1 celery stalk, finely chopped
• 1 ripe tomato, chopped, optional
• 4-6 cups vegetable stock or water
• salt & pepper
• parsley or rosemary, chopped 
• 8 oz. pasta of choice (fresh egg tagialtelle, spaghetti broken in small pieces, or ditalini)

Shell the beans, discard the shells.  In a large pot, add the diced bacon and sauté until golden and crispy.  Add the onion, carrot, and celery and sauté over moderate heat for about 10 minutes.  Add the optional tomato, the beans, and the stock and simmer for about 30 minutes, or until the beans are tender.  At this point, about half the beans are removed from the pot, pureed and added back.  This gives it a nice thick, velvety texture.  Add the herbs and continue simmering another 5 minutes.  Cook the pasta al dente in a separate pot of boiling salted water and combine with the bean soup just before serving. Perfect for these cool nights!

Note:  There are infinite variations to this dish. One of my favorite ways is to make it is with just onion, beans, water and rosemary, which is how I first had it in Italy, cooked by a Florentine grandmother.

Simple Simmered Shell Beans 

• 2 pounds fresh shell beans (cranberry or lima)
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 small onion (or shallot)
• A few leaves fresh herbs (sage, rosemary, parsley, or marjoram)
• Olive oil 

Chop the onion and garlic and sauté a few minutes in some good olive oil in a medium saucepan.  Add the beans and water to cover.  Simmer over low heat for 15-20 minutes (taste the beans to make sure they’re cooked through and creamy).  Add salt to taste and some chopped herbs.  Sage is the most popular, but use whatever you have.  These beans make a great starter course served in their own cooking water, drizzled with some more olive oil.  Or mash them and put them on toast as crostini.  

Soupe au Pistou

This recipe makes enough soup for 8, so feel free to reduce quantities to suit your needs. Or make a big batch and freeze half. The beauty of soup is you can use whatever you have on hand and omit what you don’t.

• 10 garlic cloves, peeled and quartered lengthwise
• ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 3 medium onions, diced
• 4 medium carrots, cubed
• 1 lb. potatoes, cubed
• 1 cup fresh shell beans
• bouquet garni (bay leaf, thyme, parsley)
• 1 cup zucchini, cubed
• 1 cup tomatoes, chopped
• 1 cup green beans, chopped in ½ inch rounds
• salt and pepper
• 1 recipe pistou
• ½ cup grated Parmesan
•  
• Pistou
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• salt and pepper
• 2 cups loosely packed fresh basil leaves
• ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil 

In a stockpot, gently cook the onions and garlic in oil until soft. Add carrots, potatoes, shell beans and bouquet garni and cook gently, stirring, for 10 minutes. Add the zucchini, tomatoes and green beans along with 8 cups of cold water and simmer gently uncovered until the shell beans are tender, about 20 minutes. Add additional water if the soup becomes too thick. Season with salt and pepper. While the soup is cooking prepare the pistou by placing all ingredients in a food processor and blending slowly while adding the oil. To serve, ladle the soup into a bowl, swirl in a generous teaspoon of pistou and sprinkle with cheese.