Green beans: lots of ideas for cooking them – Italian Cuisine


They are called green beans because they are nothing but beans not yet matured. In practice, the pods are still small and green before the bean fruit develops inside. They can also be called croissants or snow peas in the flattened version and in the kitchen they can be prepared in many ways.

green beans

Vegetables or pulses?

Green beans are typical of the summer season, rich in vitamin A and minerals, including calcium, phosphorus and magnesium. they less calories of legumes and contain much water like vegetables, that's why, although belonging to the legume family, they are often considered for their vegetable properties.
They have a high satiating power and they are the ideal side dish for those suffering from gastritis because they have no acid component.
They stimulate intestinal transit and are easily digestible.
They are recommended during pregnancy because they are rich in folic acid.

How to clean green beans

Cleaning the beans is very simple, but requires a little patience. They go indeed remove the ends of each string bean breaking them either with your hands or with a knife. By pulling the petiole away, the filamentous part that runs along the pod that can be slightly woody is also removed.
Once cleaned, the green beans go Carefully washed under running waterand and then cooked in boiling water. To maintain their bright green color, always add in the water also a teaspoon of flour.
You can also cook the beans directly in the pan if you prefer a more crunchy texture.

Famous recipes with green beans

In the Italian tradition, green beans are almost always accompanied with potatoes or tomatoes.
If you want to serve the string beans as a garnish, boil them and simply dress them with oil, salt, a clove of minced garlic and lots of mint.
Alternatively, you can also add boiled potatoes or cherry tomatoes, or both, with a pesto-based dressing.
Always with pesto you can prepare a first course with le Ligurian trofie. Also in this case cook the beans together with the potatoes, adding the pasta towards the end of the cooking.
For a side dish hot, instead, boil the green beans and then sauté them in a pan with a simple tomato and onion sauce. This recipe can also be prepared with jackdaws.
Finally, for a finger-food appetizer which can become even a second, wrap a bunch of steamed green beans with a slice of bacon or speck and sauté everything in the oven for a few minutes.

If you are curious to try many other recipes with green beans, here are our proposals from the La Cucina Italiana archive.

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