Snake beans w/ confit garlic
If you haven’t made confit garlic before, welcome to my lifelong obsession.
Snake beans, also called ‘yard long beans’, grow unreasonably long (up to 40cm) and are - in my opinion - the most sweetly delicious of all members of the bean family. So in this particular recipe they really don’t need all that much work to sing.
If you haven’t made confit garlic before, welcome to my lifelong obsession.
It is basically garlic that has been deep fried until it turns golden and sweet. This method of slow-cooking garlic totally transforms the humble allium into a kind of savoury caramel. It softens the punchy intensity of the garlic but somehow retains - and improves - all its flavour. The olive oil, meanwhile, will turn into an opaque garlic-infused kind of butter if popped in the fridge.
It’s fantastic as a spread for fresh bread or as a topping on pasta. I like to have a jar of confit garlic in the fridge at all times (it’s great on crackers with a nice sharp cheddar). If you like, you can also make it in bulk, pop it in small jars and store them in the freezer for several months, taking them out one at a time and allowing them to defrost in the fridge as you need them (to make a bulk batch of Confit Garlic, see this recipe).
Snake beans w/ confit garlic
Serves 4 as a side
Ingredients
1/3 cup olive oil
2 heads of garlic, cloves skinned
100g sourdough bread, torn into small chunks
1/3 cup of walnuts
500g snake beans
1 1/2 Tbsp salt
1/4 cup sharp pecorino cheese, finely grated
Notes
If the amount of salt used to cook the beans scares you - don’t worry! It almost all pours out when you drain the beans, but using plenty of salt helps them retain their green colour.
If using regular beans that aren’t picked fresh, you may want to boil them a little longer (10-15 minutes). Taste them as you go, and drain them once they are tender but not too soft.
Method
First, make the confit garlic. Put the olive oil and garlic cloves
in a small saucepan. Ideally, the garlic cloves will be totally submerged in the oil. Cook on the lowest heat possible, until the garlic has softened and turned golden (about 60-90 minutes). Set aside.
Put 1⁄4 cup of the oil from the confit garlic into a frying pan. Add the torn sourdough and a generous pinch of salt, then fry, stirring often until golden and crisp (about 10 minutes). Transfer to a bowl.
Using the same frying pan, fry the walnuts until they turn dark brown.
Top and tail the snake beans then put them in a small saucepan along with 1 1⁄2 Tbsp of salt and enough boiling water to totally cover the beans. Cook until just soft (5-10 minutes).
Drain the snake beans and place on a serving dish. Pour over the confit garlic (and a generous drizzle of the oil they’ve cooked in), top with the fried breadcrumbs, walnuts and pecorino cheese. Serve warm.
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