Author Notes
This recipe is a combination of some of my favorite ingredients - garlic, lemon, greens, and anchovies - with tender white beans. You can use canned white beans, but cooking them yourself is really not difficult. Use a pressure cooker or boil on the stovetop (bring to a boil, let rest one hour, change the water, bring to a boil again, simmer until barely tender, salt, simmer until fully tender, and drain). Beet greens also work very well here. You can keep the leftover bean and chard mixture in the fridge for a day or two. —booglix
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Ingredients
- For the beans and chard:
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1/4 cup
olive oil
-
3
medium anchovy fillets
-
5
cloves garlic
-
1
small shallot
-
zest of 1 lemon
-
2 tablespoons
lemon juice
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2 cups
cooked white beans, such as cannellini, great northern, or flageolet
-
1 bunch
swiss chard, cleaned, de-stemmed, and sliced into 1/2" ribbons
-
1 tablespoon
minced flat-leaf parsley
-
salt and fresh pepper
- To assemble toasts:
-
4
large slices of hearty bread
-
4
eggs
-
salt, fresh pepper, and olive oil to taste
Directions
-
Mince the shallot and combine it with 1 tablespoon of lemon juice in a small bowl. Set aside.
-
Mince the garlic and smash it with a pinch of salt on the cutting board to get a rough paste. In a large shallow pan, heat the olive oil with the anchovy fillets and garlic paste until the garlic is sizzling, then remove from heat and let it rest for at least 5 minutes. Break up the anchovy fillets with a spoon. Add the lemon zest and the remaining tablespoon of lemon juice.
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Add the beans to the pan and return it to medium heat. Gently toss the beans to coat them in the oil. Add the chopped chard and cover the pan for a few minutes to jumpstart the cooking of the greens, then remove the cover and gently turn and toss as the greens cook. Try not to break up the beans, but sometimes they will break a bit anyway. Don't worry because they will still taste just as good! Cook until the greens are wilted but still have a slight bite to them, covering the pan or adding a tablespoon of water if needed; don't let the garlic burn. The exact timing will depend on your stove, the size of your pan, and how wet the greens were to begin with. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Add the parsley and the shallot with lemon juice, and stir gently to combine.
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Toast the bread and poach the eggs. Serve each toast with a thick coating of the white bean and chard mixture, an extra drizzle of olive oil (optional), and a poached egg on top. Add a bit of salt and pepper to the top of the egg, and devour while warm.
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