Photo by Eugenia Bone
Provenance of Dish
Cranberry beans are in this time of year (November) and I eat them often. I also have a decent stash of frozen B. edulis and B rubriceps. It just seems like a natural combination--and it is! The flavors are derived from the pasta fagioli I grew up with, flavored with garlic, marjoram, and lemon juice. To make this dish even more hearty, you can add a cup of cooked elbow macaroni. Great with a glass of red wine.
Recipe
Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for finishing
1 Tablespoon minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram
Juice from 1/2 lemon
3/4 cup mushroom, chicken, beef, or vegetable stock
2 cups cooked fresh cranberry beans (in gently boiling water for 15 minutes, until fork tender) or 1 19oz can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed, or 2 cups dried beans, soaked overnight in salted water, then boiled gently until tender
1/4 lb boletes, fresh or frozen and defrosted and sliced from pole to pole
1 tablespoon coarsely chopped flat-leafed parsley (optional--chopped thyme is nice too, but not too much)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
Heat the oil in a medium-sized skillet over a medium high heat. When the oil wrinkles, add the garlic and marjoram and mushrooms (if using fresh), and turn down the heat to medium.
Cook for a few minutes until the garlic becomes aromatic--don't brown.
Add the lemon juice, beans, stock, the mushrooms (if using defrosted), and salt to taste.
Leave the heat at medium and cook at a gentle boil, reducing the liquid, until the beans are very tender, the liquid has reduced over 50%, and the mushrooms are soft, about 10 minutes.
Remove from heat and adjust the salt. Add black pepper to taste and a dribble of good olive oil to finish.
Sprinkle with parsley if you like.
