A hearty vegetarian entrée consisting of pan-fried giant white beans, your favorite green and mushrooms, topped with Pecorino Romano. This recipe serves 2 people as a meal or 4 as a side dish.
*See Kitchen Notes for more information, substitutions or related links.
Cook a pound of dried Corona Beans or other giant white bean. Follow these instructions - How to Cook Dried Corona Beans
Scoop 2 generous cups of the cooked beans into a colander and let drain while you prepare the other ingredients. Save the rest of the beans for another meal.
Heat the butter and oil over medium-high heat in a 12 - 16 inch wide skillet. Add beans to the hot fats in a single layer. If you don’t have a big-enough skillet, just do this step in two batches. Stir to coat the beans with butter/oil, spread them out into one layer.
Let the bean fry long enough to brown on one side, about 3 or 4 minutes. Once brown, turn to brown the other side, also about 3 or 4 minutes. The beans should be golden brown and a bit crunchy on the outside and soft and creamy on the inside.
Add a little more oil to the skillet and heat over medium heat. When hot, add the onion and garlic, and cook for 3-4 minutes, until the onion becomes translucent. Add the vermouth and deglaze the skillet.
Add the mushrooms and cooked until mushrooms release their liquid and start to soften, about 3 - 4 minutes.
Stir in the greens, oregano, marjoram, a couple of pinches of sea salt, and a generous amount of black pepper. Cover and cook until the greens have wilted and are tender.
Add the beans and reheat for about 1 minute. Remove from heat, and season to taste with more salt and pepper if needed.
Transfer to serving bowls or plates. Drizzle each serving with a bit of top-quality extra-virgin olive oil, and sprinkle with freshly grated Parmesan or Pecorino Romano.
Giant White Beans - I always use Royal Corona Beans for this dish; however, you can use whichever large white bean you prefer. Just be sure to use a GIANT bean in order to get the fried bean skin which makes this dish so good.
To cook the beans - Depending on how much time you have, you can cook the beans a day or two prior to making this dish or the day of. One pound of dried beans yields 6 cups cooked beans; therefore, you will have about 4 cups of beans leftover to use in another dish. These beans freeze quite well, just be sure to cover them with bean broth before freezing to prevent freezer frost.
Garlic - I like using roasted garlic and garlic infused olive oil for this dish. However, if you don't have any, then just use raw garlic.
The Greens - I prefer to use Kale or Swiss Chard because their textures and flavors complement the beans IMO, plus they become tender pretty quickly.
Mushrooms - The mushrooms are actually optional in this dish. I've made it with and without them, but I do prefer using mushrooms because of their added flavor and texture. Shiitake mushrooms also work quite well in this dish.
Recipe author: MJ of MJ's Kitchen