Welcome back after your New Year Holidays! If you made the St. Basil’s Day cake and used the full quantity the you will by now have just about finished it and be ready for another recipe!To help you get over the excesses of Christmas this weeks dish is very plain and simple. It is ‘Dried Beans with Fennel Leaves’
Method
Boil the beans for half an hour and leave them to drain.
Heat the olive oil in a pot and saute the onions and the chopped fennel, stir in the tomatoes and cook gently for about 15 minutes.
Add the beans to the pot with salt and pepper to taste and enough water to cover the mixture, bring back to the boil and then turn down to a simmer straight away, continue simmering until the beans are cooked and the water has been absorbed to make a thick sauce.
Try the beans from time to time and if the sauce becomes too thick before the beans have cooked then add more water. You can also soak the beans in cold water for an hour beforehand as they will cook more quickly. When they are cooked they should be soft but not mushy!
Ingredients
Half kilo dried beans, any sort will do provided they are smallish ones. ‘Black-eyed’ beans are best.
Half cup olive oil
300 gms finely chopped fennel
1 finely chopped medium onion
1 tablespoon tomato pulp or half kilo grated tomatoes
Salt and Pepper
This is me, Ralfa. Aren't I just gorgeous?