Author Notes
This is a recipe I created to highlight the delicate taste and pretty hue of flageolet beans. And, I have to admit that I included the yellow peppers out of school spirit, for a potluck football party, but it turned out that the sweet caramelized peppers were a nice contrast to the fresh flavors of the minty beans. —Fairmount_market
Ingredients
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1 cup
dried flageolet beans
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4 cups
water
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1
yellow pepper
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1
large shallot
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1/4 cup
plus 2 Tbsp olive oil
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1/2 cup
mint leaves
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1/2 cup
flat leaf parsley leaves
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salt and pepper to taste
Directions
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Sort and rinse the beans and soak them for a few hours or overnight until the plum up. Then drain and simmer in about 4 cups water partially covered on very low heat until tender but intact, about 90 minutes, keeping an eye on them to make sure there is still liquid in the pot. Salt generously. Most of the liquid should be absorbed by this point, but if there is still a lot of liquid in the pot drain the beans (and save the flavorful bean liquor for a soup stock).
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Prepare the caramelized yellow pepper and shallot. Core and seed the pepper and cut into ¼ inch dice. Peel and chop the shallot finely. Heat a skillet over medium heat. Add 2 Tbsp of olive oil and when it starts to shimmer, add the diced pepper and shallot. Cook over medium low heat, stirring frequently, for about 8 minutes until the onion and shallot are very soft and glassy with released sugars. Remove from heat and reserve.
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Prepare the pesto by combining the mint and parsley leaves, olive oil, salt and pepper in a food processor and processing into a mostly smooth paste with still a little texture.
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Combine the cooked beans with the caramelized peppers and the mint pesto. Taste and adjust seasonings. Serve warm or at room temperature.
I'm a biology professor and mother of two, and in my (limited) free time I love to cook, which is much more forgiving than laboratory science. Last year I helped start a farmers market in my neighborhood, and to promote it, I created a food blog: fairmountmarket.blogspot.com. I enjoy the challenge of coming up with recipes for local, seasonal ingredients and finding fun ways to cook with my children.
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