STEWED STRING BEANS

Summer is almost over.
Market stalls are replacing all the hot season fresh products with Autumnal typical fruits and vegetables.
I purchased a bunch of string beans before they definitely disappear from the stalls because they won't be on season anymore in few weeks time.
Stewed string beans are a traditional Tuscan recipe and they are one of my favourite Summer dish: they are so tasteful!!
Someone eat them boiled and seasoned with just salt, pepper and extra-virgin olive oil, but in my opinion the best way to appreciate their particular taste is to stew them, expecially with meat.

I cook string beans in this way:

INGREDIENTS for 2 portions:

• A bunch of string beans

• 2 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil

• 2 cloves of garlic

• Few fresh basil leaves

• 200 gr of tomatoes

• Salt and pepper

• Water or stock

This is something more to know about the ingredients:

STRING BEANS:

String beans and green beans are the same kind of vegetables for someone, but in Tuscany they are 2 different types of beans.
String beans are thinner and longer that green beens (about 18 inches long!) and they are typical from the area where I live, Versilia, and Lucchesia.
They are popular all over Tuscany, but not in every part of Italy.
They are also called Sant'Anna beans or Snake beans, because of their shape.
In fact someone thinks they are quite weird and not so temping because of their look, but trust me, they are delicious!

TOMATOES:

I used canned tomato pulp, already peeled and chopped.
But also tomato puree or fresh tomatoes can be used. In the second case I suggest to use plum tomatoes, but peeled, seeded and chopped.

OIL:

Always use proper extra-virgin olive oil! Or at least olive oil.
I use Tuscan olive oil of course and I'm lucky enough to live in an area where native olive trees grow, the Quercetano Olive Tree, and where oil production is copious and with excellent quality.




Wash the beans and clean them breaking their tails off.
Break them in 2 or in 4 if you prefer, but I personally keep them intact.
Heat a laddle of stock or water in a large saucepan and simmer the garlic cloves in it for few minutes.
Add all the ingredients: string beans, basil leaves, chopped tomato pulp, salt, pepper and a glass of water or stock.

Stir to mix all of them and simmer for 1 hour, 1 hour and a half, or untill beans are very tender and liquid reduces.
They don't need much attention while cooking...They need a bit of stirring every now and then and put an eye on them sometimes to look they don't get too dry, or they'll stick at the bottom of the pan.
In that case add more water or stock.
They are ready when liquid reduces until desired consistency is obtained.
At this point season with olive oil, stir quickly for a minute or less and you can serve the beans.
Eat them just like spaghetti: twirl them on your fork.

SUGGESTIONS:

• If you're not on a diet like me you can use oil or butter to brown the garlic, so you can avoid to add raw olive oil at the end of the cooking.

• If you like spicy flavours, add a pinch of chilli powder as well.

• For a more intense taste, you can add a thinly sliced onion to the ingredients. Simmer it in the water or stock with garlic until it becomes translucent. Or saute it until it browns if you use oil or butter instead of water.

• The best way to get a full-bodied taste is to stew them with meat. In my opinion the best choice is stew rabbit, but last time I cooked them with beef stew, using Chianina meat cubes. Just add meat with the other ingredients and simmer on a very low fire.