Cranberry Beans With Tomatoes And Herbs Recipes

CRANBERRY BEANS WITH TOMATOES AND HERBS

Steps:

• Place olive oil in a 5-quart casserole with a tight-fitting lid. Cook, uncovered, at 100 percent power in a high-power oven for 2 minutes. Add onions and stir to coat with oil. Cook, uncovered, for 4 minutes.
• Drain beans and stir them in. Cook, uncovered, for 3 minutes. Stir in tomatoes, sage and savory. Cook, covered, for 45 minutes, stirring twice.
• Remove from oven and uncover. Season with salt and pepper. Cook, covered, for 7 minutes to reheat.

FRESH CRANBERRY BEANS WITH TOMATOES, ONIONS AND CINNAMON

Steps:

• Cook the beans in a large saucepan of boiling water until tender, 30 to 40 minutes; drain.
• Heat the olive oil in a large skillet. Add the onions and cook over low heat until softened, about 10 minutes. Add the tomatoes and simmer over moderate heat until the juices have evaporated, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic, lemon juice, sugar, crushed red pepper and cinnamon and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 2 minutes.
• Add the beans and water to the skillet and bring to a boil. Simmer over moderate heat until the liquid has reduced to a glaze, about 20 minutes. Season with salt and transfer to a bowl. Serve warm or at room temperature, sprinkled with the parsley.

HEARTY MINESTRA BASE WITH CRANBERRY BEANS, POTATOES, AND PORK

Steps:

• Drain the soaked beans and put them in the pot with the water, potatoes, bay leaves, and peperoncino. Cover, and bring to a boil over high heat, stirring occasionally so nothing scorches on the bottom of the pot.
• While the water is heating, make the pestata in the food processor, chopping the bacon, rosemary, and garlic to a fine paste. Scrape every bit into the soup pot. Rinse in hot water the spare ribs, pork hock, or other bony pork, and add it to the pot too.
• When the water is at a full boil, set the cover on ajar; adjust the heat to maintain a steady gentle boiling, and cook for an hour to 1 1/2 hours, until the beans and the potatoes are tender and are beginning to break apart. Skim the fat or residue from the pork now and then, as it collects on the surface.
• Meanwhile, prepare the soffritto. Pour the oil into a small skillet, stir in the onion, and set over medium heat. Cook the onion, stirring, until wilted, about 6 minutes. Crush the tomatoes into bits with your hands, and pour them with all the juices into the skillet. Stir in the 2 teaspoons salt, and simmer rapidly for about 5 minutes, until the juices have reduced a bit. When the beans are tender, pour the tomato mixture into them, dipping the skillet into the soup pot to slosh out every bit, and keep the minestra boiling.
• Cook the minestra for another hour or more, 2 1/2 to 3 hours total, until the volume has reduced to about 4 quarts (about midway up an 8-quart pot, when you take out any bones and meat). If there's too much broth, raise the heat and cook uncovered, but stir frequently to prevent burning. Taste the soup when reduced, and correct seasoning.
• Take some of the base for a finished soup now if you want, or let the whole pot cool. Before using or storing, lift out the pork bones, pick off all the meat, shred it, and stir into the base; pick out the bay leaves and discard. Keep the soup refrigerated for 3 or 4 days, or freeze, in filled and tightly sealed containers, for 4 to 6 months
• I will often add extra pork pieces to the big minestra pot for an hour of so of cooking, then serve the meat as a separate course. If your pot is big enough, you should be able to drop in a pound or more of meat, either bony spare ribs or hocks, or meatier cuts, such as pork butt or country-style ribs, in addition to the ones already cooking with the soup. Italian sausages and kielbasa are also great cooked this way. Wash meat well with hot water before, or you might give it a quick boil before adding to the pot.
• You can cook such main-course meat anytime the minestra is perking away, though it will take on the best flavor after you've added the tomato-onion soffritto and salt. Remove the meat when tender, keep warm until ready, slice, and serve on a platter-moistened with a ladle of delicious minestra broth.
• If you prefer a vegetarian minestra, flavor it during the long cooking with an herb pesto instead of the bacon pestata: in the food processor, chop the garlic and rosemary in 1/4 cup of extra-virgin olive oil, and scrape this into the soup pot as it comes to the boil. Then just follow the recipes for the base and any of the finished minestre.