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3 days ago
2
The benefit of soaking and cooking (or, better still, pressure cooking) your own beans are many: less packaging; money saved (a 500g bag of dried beans costing £2.50 will yield 1.5kg cooked beans, while some 400g tins can cost more or less the same); the suspiciously coloured but flavourful and starchy bean cooking water; and some personal satisfaction that you actually remembered to soak the beans in the first place. The benefits – and joy – of tinned beans, however, are almost instantaneous. That is, just a ring-pull away – unless, of course, said ring-pull comes off prematurely, turning the tin into a door without a knob and leaving you two options: searching for the tin opener that is somewhere in the miscellaneous drawer (or among the picnic equipment, which is on top of the wardrobe), or puncturing the tin at exactly the right spot on the seam with a pointy parmesan knife, which is somewhere in the same drawer.
Fortunately, the ring pull didn’t come away prematurely on any of the three tins – two borlotti beans and one plum tomatoes – required for this week’s recipe, which came about thanks to a meal at Dal Cordaro, a hard-working and decent trattoria just behind Porta Portese, a 17th-century city gate (arch) in the Aurelian wall on the right bank of the river Tiber. Everything we ordered – whole braised artichokes, slow-cooked oxtail stew, flash-fried rags of beef (straccetti), pasta and chickpeas – was pleasing and could have made its way into this column. However, my plate of beans in a rich, orange-tinted tomato sauce with poached sausages and greens (escarole) stirred in at some point was the satisfying idea that came home with me.
On the subject of things in tins, this dish had about it something – and I mean this as a compliment – of both baked beans (homemade and Heinz) and breakfast-in-a-tin. Notably, the plump, slightly jellied consistency of the sausage that comes from poaching in sauce, which is, of course, accompanied by the flavour and substance of the sausages you choose to use. I tried 100% pork sausages with fennel seeds, sausages with some rusk, and seitan bratwurst, all of which worked well. This an accommodating dish, and can also be adapted to use soaked and cooked beans, plus a little of the cooking broth.
While the combination of beans, greens and sausages is a complete and satisfying one, this stew/braise welcomes thick slices of toast rubbed lightly with garlic and brushed with melted butter or olive oil, for mopping up the sauce and cleaning the plate. At Dal Cordaro, as well as serving a good cherry and ricotta tart, they also offer seasonal fruit, which might be pineapple fanned out with a decorative twist. A wonderful pudding – as is tinned pineapple.
Beans with greens and sausages (pork or vegetarian)
Serves 4
4 tbsp olive oil
4-8 pork or vegetarian sausages
1 large onion, peeled and diced
1 sprig sage
400g tin peeled plum tomatoes, crushed or passed through a food mill
1 tsp tomato concentrate
1 tsp red chilli flakes
Salt and black pepper
2 400g tins borlotti or cannellini beans, drained well
250g greens – spinach or endive, say
In a heavy-based pan or casserole dish on a medium-low heat, warm two tablespoons of the oil, then add the sausages and turn regularly until lightly brown on all sides. Remove the sausages from the pan – this is just a preliminary browning, and they will be cooked more later.
Back in the pan, add the remaining two tablespoons of olive oil to the hot pork fat, then stir in the onion. Once the onion is soft, add the sage, then, after a minute or two, the tinned tomatoes, tomato concentrate, chilli flakes and a pinch of salt. Simmer for 10 minutes, pressing the tomatoes with the back of a spoon to break up any lumps.
Add a glass of warm water, return the sausages to the pan, and simmer, turning regularly, for 20-25 minutes (if you are using veggie sausages, adjust the timing as required), adding more water if the sauce thickens too much.
Once the sausages are cooked through, stir in the drained beans, simmer or a further five minutes, then add the greens and stir until they wilt completely into the sauce. Taste, adjust for salt and pepper as needed, and serve.
