One more recipe from Ottolenghi – his butter beans with preserved lemon, chilli and herb oil, is an all time party favourite of mine so I just had to bring some minor adjustments to it and add it to my blog. You can find his original recipe in his book Shelf Love. And if you’re as big of a fan of his recipes as I am, you can find one more of my favourites which I published on the blog a few months ago. As to this one, just keep on reading for a fantastic dish that you can enjoy directly from the pan!
Ingredients
five garlic cloves
half a teaspoon of chilli flakes (or a dried chilli)
a teaspoon of grounded coriander
the skin of half a preserved lemon
a tablespoon of thyme leaves
four rosemary sprigs
thyme sprigs for decoration
a tablespoon of tomato paste
100 ml olive oil
800g of drained butter beans
a large ox-heart tomato
salt and pepper
Instructions
1. Peel and chop the garlic cloves, chop the red chilli finely (unless you’re using chilli flakes), chop up the skin of the preserved lemon once you’ve rinsed it well and chop the thyme leaves.
2. Heat up the oil in a large pan, add all of the above ingredients along with the grounded coriander, tomato paste and rosemary sprigs and cook over medium low heat for about 10-15 minutes, or until fragrant, without letting it burn. Note: Ottolenghi uses 170ml of olive oil and cooks it for 25 minutes but that’s a bit excessive for my taste, hence my adjustment to use less oil and cook for less time.
3.Add the beans and cook for another 10 minutes over medium heat while you’re grating the tomato. Note: Ottolenghi uses two large vine tomatoes and discards the skin but I actually prefer ox-heart tomatoes these days, which you’ll need to season with salt and pepper.
4.Let the beans rest for them to properly infuse the oil (Ottolenghi recommends at least an hour but I cannot in good consciousness let them wait that long), before pouring the grated tomato on top, decorating with the thyme sprigs, and serving.
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