Last week at the Wallingford market I found Italian flat beans, big, broad specimens whose flavor hovers somewhere between that of a regular green bean and a snow pea. They were almost as long as my bread knife (but still quite tender, they’re supposed to get this big):
The farmer said she thought maybe people hadn’t been buying them because they didn’t know what to do with them. I bought a pound, which turned out to be enough for about eight people. But we’re only two people, so I’ve been making them all week, quite simply:
First I blended finely chopped garlic with olive oil, tossed the beans with the oil, sprinkled them with salt and pepper, and grilled them for about five minutes, turning occasionally:
Then I brushed them with the ginger-studded teriyaki sauce leftover from the summer wraps and roasted them, for about 10 minutes at 425 degrees:
Finally, I chopped them up, boiled them until they were bright green (just a few minutes!), tossed them with a bit of butter, and showered them with Parmesan cheese:
If you find them, try them; they’re delicious.
Has anyone seen them in a supermarket?
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