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Braised Green Beans and Roasted Red Peppers

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Braised Green Beans and Roasted Red Peppers

This recipe was entered in the contest for Your Best String Bean Salad
A&M's Testing Notes: Cooking the beans in garlic-infused oil gives them a great complex, subtle flavor. The final blast of lemon zest and yummy sweet roasted peppers are perfect. Try serving the still warm beans...
Cooking the beans in garlic-infused oil gives them a great complex, subtle flavor. The final blast of lemon zest and yummy sweet roasted peppers are perfect. Try serving the still warm beans as a side dish for your favorite grilled meat. - Stephanie

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Chef
betteirene's Notes: I share what I grow to pay back the kindnesses of friends and neighbors. A very long time ago, an Italian "friend" was quite excited to receive a few quarts of Romano beans and told me she...
I share what I grow to pay back the kindnesses of friends and neighbors. A very long time ago, an Italian "friend" was quite excited to receive a few quarts of Romano beans and told me she'd give me a taste of the special way she cooked them. Sure enough, the next day, she came over with a sample--two very delicious still-warm beans steeped in olive oil, but she would not share the recipe because one day, these beans would make her rich and famous. Thirty years later, that hasn't happened, but she still refuses to give up the recipe, saying only that they were Italian in three ways. This is what I came up with: The Italian Romano beans are cooked in a sort-of Italian dressing and evoke the colors of the Italian flag with the red peppers and white cheese. (Reserve the oil from the skillet for another use, preferably for Italian Potato Salad.) - betteirene

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Serves 4

1 cup light olive oil Ask a question about this ingredient

1 fat clove of garlic, sliced very thinly. Ask a question about this ingredient

2 lemons Ask a question about this ingredient

2 tablespoons cider vinegar Ask a question about this ingredient

1 teaspoon sea salt, preferably Maldon Ask a question about this ingredient

1 teaspoon granualted sugar Ask a question about this ingredient

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano leaves Ask a question about this ingredient

1/2 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes Ask a question about this ingredient

1 pound yellow or green Romano beans, preferred, or green or yellow string beans, stem ends removed Ask a question about this ingredient

1 red pepper Ask a question about this ingredient

1/4 teaspoon coarse-ground black pepper Ask a question about this ingredient

1 ounce shaved Parmigiano-Reggiano, Parmesan, Romano, or aged Asiago Ask a question about this ingredient

Pour the olive oil into a cold skillet and add the sliced garlic. Cook over very low heat until the garlic becomes fragrant and loses its sharpness. Remove from heat.
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Zest the lemons and set the zest aside. Juice both lemons and stir the juice into the warmed olive oil. Add the vinegar, salt, sugar, oregano, and red pepper flakes.
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Bring one quart of water to a boil in a large saucepan. Add the beans, return to a boil, turn heat to medium and cook for 3-5 minutes. Beans should be brightly colored but not cooked through.
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With a slotted spoon, remove beans from water and add to the olive oil in the skillet. Over medium-low heat, cook the beans until they're cooked through but not mushy, tasting one periodically to determine when they're done to your liking, up to 20 minutes depending on the meatiness of the beans. Remove from heat.
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Meanwhile, roast the red pepper over an open flame until charred and blistered. When cool enough to handle, remove as much of the skin as possible, along with the stem and the core. Slice the pepper into strips roughly the same size as the beans, and add to the beans in the skillet.
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Remove beans and peppers from the oil with a slotted spoon to a serving bowl. Sprinkle with pepper, half the reserved lemon zest and the cheese; toss and serve.
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1 Comment on Braised Green Beans and Roasted Red Peppers

Fran McGinty added about 1 year ago

When I lived in Sardinia, Mario my land lord made me some pesto for dinner one night and it was the best I have ever tasted. I could not come up with his secret. I finally figured it out. 2 t. honey made the difference. He wouldn't share that and it has taken me 25 years to figure it out. I have tried everything ! I shared many recipes with him, he would smell wafting up the villa.When he wouldn't share his pesto, I told him no more. Then I cooked my best for another 18 months. I shared each meal with him as he was alone. He wouldn't budge on the pesto. Those Italians are stubborn.