Beautiful Borlotti

This harvest of borlotti beans, fresh from the pod (shown in my photo above) has been a very welcome arrival recently in the ADK Kitchen. I always think they are one of the most beautiful foods in their natural uncooked form.

They’re not bad cooked, either. The beans do tend to lose that magical, mottled sheen, but more than make up for it in their creamy, smoky taste. They also provide generous amounts of protein and fibre.

For this dish (shown in my photo below), I have given them a starring role in a chilli suitable for vegetarians, vegans and, indeed, anyone who enjoys a bowl of rich, warm and creamy comfort food this time of year.

Servings

4 adult portions.

Timings

The beans soak overnight, and are then boiled/simmered for at least an hour. Once these stages are complete, the rest will take about 30 mins to cook.

You Will Need:

• 120g uncooked borlotti beans
• cold water
• 1 onion
• 1 garlic clove
• 1 tsp chilli powder
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• oil
• 1/2 a red pepper
• 1/2 a green pepper
• 2 celery sticks
• 1 carrot
• 6 -7 chestnut mushrooms
• 1 400g carton of tomato passata

Method

1. Wash the beans, then place in a bowl with enough cold water to cover them. Leave for 24 – 36 hours.
2. Drain and rinse the beans under cold running water. You should find that they have doubled their weight through the water they have absorbed. Place the beans in a saucepan with enough fresh water to cover them, and bring to the boil. Reduce and simmer for 50 mins.
3. Drain the cooked beans and wash again under cold running water. Set aside.
4. Heat some oil in a wok, and add in the garlic, chilli and cumin. When it sizzles, add in the onion, peppers and celery, chopped into chunks.
5. About 5 mins later, add in the mushrooms and carrot, also chopped into bitesize chunks.
6. Stir with a spatula until all the veg is nicely softened, then add in the passata and the cooked borlottis. Top up with about half an empty carton’s worth of fresh water, and turn it up to boil.
7. Bring to a simmer for about 15 mins, by which time the sauce will have reduced to provide a thick, creamy coating for the beans.
8. Serve up with a portion of brown rice.

Customise It!

Replace the onion with chopped leeks, and add in some roasted squash if you wish. Shred in some spinach, cavalo nero or chard leaves.

Skip the rice and wrap a few spoonfuls up in a warmed tortilla. Perhaps with some soured cream on the side. This is making me hungry again…

It’s getting to that time of year when I receive messages from Spotify that my Unwrapped Playlist – containing my most played tracks of 2024 – is imminent. Here’s one track that will almost certainly be on it, and which seems to go well with the subject of this post: Leftfield with Pulse.