Bottega - Michael Chiarello [77]
2 large garlic cloves, sliced
½ cup diced yellow onion
¼ cup diced carrot
¼ cup diced celery
2 fresh sage sprigs, or 1 chopped fresh sage leaf
Prosciutto heel, cut into 2 or 3 pieces
In a large pot, combine the water and beans. Bring to a boil over high heat, then immediately turn off the heat and let the pot cool on the stove for 1 hour. Add the 2 tablespoons salt. (I like this 1-hour method better than soaking the beans overnight in cold water, but use the method you prefer.)
While the beans are cooling, heat a medium sauté pan or skillet over medium-high heat, add the 2 tablespoons olive oil, and sauté the garlic just until it turns a light golden brown. Add the onion, carrot, and celery and sauté for 3 minutes, or until they release some of their liquid. Add the sage and sauté for 1 minute. Turn off the heat.
Drain the beans and throw away the water (just as you would if the beans had soaked overnight). Add the vegetables and the prosciutto pieces to the beans. Put the pot back on the stove and cook over medium-low heat for 45 minutes, or until the beans are tender and flavorful. Add the ½ teaspoon sea salt halfway through cooking.
Spoon the beans into a 1-quart French canning jar with a glass lid and top with the 1/4 cup olive oil. These can be served with seared shellfish, or can dress up grilled meats or roasted chicken.
CHEF’S NOTE: At home, I like to serve these in a special bean-dedicated flask that used to be a wine decanter. You can do the same. Spoon the beans into the vessel. At tableside, pour the beans onto a guest’s plate and top with a swirl of some special late-harvest extra-virgin olive oil. You can make a real production out of it. With beans! Who’d have thought?
The Hospitality Irony
The biggest irony in restaurant work is that many of the people who keep the restaurant kitchens running are far from their families, sending money home to their loved ones. As the economy in the United States has gotten rockier, you hear grumbling about immigrants taking jobs, but the fact is, in twenty years I’ve had only one Anglo ask me for a dishwashing job, and not a single Anglo has ever asked to pick grapes or do the laborious, detailed fieldwork in my vineyards.
Like farmworkers, the folks washing dishes in a restaurant live on the edge. I have two responsibilities to them: keep the restaurant going so they have income, and make sure there’s a place in the valley where they can get medical attention and help when needed. This is one reason I donated all my Top Chef Masters winnings to Clinic Ole.
Calabrese Romano Bean Ragù
SERVES 6 TO 8
The Romano bean is to Italians what the much-heralded haricot vert is to the French. These are beans you can really cook. These are sandwich beans, hearty enough to spoon between two slices of bread and finish off with a little pecorino. I love that the potatoes are brown and crispy not for their texture but for the way the caramelization crumbles off into the dish. This is one of my favorite uses for potatoes. Look for small Yukon golds, about 2 inches in diameter.
This recipe can be adjusted with vegetables cut even smaller to make a great pasta sauce, or you can make a gratin of it by spooning it into a baking dish and topping with bread crumbs and Parmesan.
1½ pounds Romano beans (Italian green beans)
1 pound unpeeled Yukon gold potatoes
2/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
Sea salt, preferably gray salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano
1 cup water
1 cup canned whole plum tomatoes, juice reserved
Cut each bean crosswise into three pieces. Cut the potatoes in half lengthwise, then into half-moon slices about 1/3 inch thick.
Add the potatoes to a large pot of salted cold water, bring the water to a boil, and cook the potatoes for 1 minute. Using a slotted spoon or wire skimmer, transfer the potatoes to a colander to drain.
Heat a 12-inch sauté pan or skillet over high heat and add 1/3 cup of the olive oil. Add the potatoes and sauté until