Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking - Marcella Hazan [224]
For 6 servings
½ pound boiling potatoes
1 pound fresh green beans
2 eggs
1 cup freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese
Salt
Black pepper, ground fresh from the mill Chopped marjoram, 2 teaspoons if fresh, 1 teaspoon if dried
A 9-inch round cake pan
Extra virgin olive oil
Unflavored bread crumbs, lightly toasted
1. Wash the potatoes, put them with their peel on in a pot with enough cold water to cover amply, and bring to a boil.
2. Trim, soak, boil, and drain the green beans. They will undergo considerably more cooking in the oven later, so drain them when quite firm.
3. Chop the beans very fine, but not pureed, in a food processor, or pass them through the largest holes of a food mill, and put them into a bowl.
4. Preheat oven to 350°.
5. Drain the potatoes when tender, testing them with a fork, peel them, and pass them through a food mill or a potato ricer into the bowl containing the beans. Do not use a food processor because it makes potatoes gluey.
6. Break the eggs into the bowl, add the grated Parmesan, salt, a few grindings of pepper, and the marjoram. Mix thoroughly to blend all ingredients uniformly.
7. Lightly smear the baking pan with olive oil. Sprinkle bread crumbs over the entire inside surface of the pan, then turn the pan upside down and rap it on the counter to shake out excess crumbs.
8. Put the bean and potato mixture into the pan, distributing it evenly and leveling it with a spatula. Top with a sprinkling of bread crumbs and over them pour a thin and evenly spread stream of olive oil. Place in the upper third of the preheated oven, and bake for 1 hour. Allow to settle for a few minutes, then run a knife blade all around the pie to loosen it from the pan, invert it over a plate, then again over another plate. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Ahead-of-time note You can complete the recipe several hours in advance. Do not refrigerate. Finish and serve it the same day you start it.
Green Beans with Yellow Peppers, Tomatoes, and Chili Pepper
For 4 to 6 servings
1 pound fresh green beans
1 sweet yellow bell pepper
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 medium onion sliced very thin
⅔ cup canned imported Italian plum tomatoes, chopped coarse, with their juice, OR fresh, ripe tomatoes, peeled and cut up
Salt
Chopped hot red chili pepper, to taste
1. Snap both ends off the beans, soak them in a basin of cold water for 10 minutes, then drain and set aside.
2. Wash the pepper in cold water, split it lengthwise along its creases, remove the seeds and pulpy core, and skin it raw, using a swiveling-blade peeler. Cut it into long strips less than ½ inch wide.
3. Put the oil and onion in a saute pan, turn the heat on to medium, and cook the onion, stirring, until it becomes translucent. Add the strips of pepper and the chopped tomatoes with their juice. Turn all ingredients over to coat them well, and adjust heat to cook at a steady, but gentle simmer for about 20 minutes, until the oil floats free of the tomatoes.
4. Add the raw green beans, turn them over 2 or 3 times to coat them well, add ⅓ cup water or less if you are using fresh tomatoes that turn out to be watery, salt, and chili pepper. Cover and cook at a steady simmer until tender, 20 to 30 minutes, depending on the youth and freshness of the beans. If the cooking liquid becomes insufficient, add 1 or 2 tablespoons water as needed. When the beans are done, if the pan juices are watery, uncover, turn the heat up to high, and rapidly boil them down. Taste and correct for salt and chili pepper, and serve promptly.
Ahead-of-time note The dish can be cooked through to the end several hours in advance and gently reheated before serving. Do not refrigerate.
Green Beans Pasticcio
A pasticcio can be one of two things in Italian. In everyday life it means a “mess,” such as in “How did I ever get into this pasticcio?” When produced intentionally by a cook, however, it is a mix of cheese and vegetables, meat, or cooked pasta, bound by eggs or