Recipe

Crostone con cavolo nero e cannellini beans (grilled bread with cavolo nero and beans)

Crostone con cavolo nero e cannellini beans (grilled bread with cavolo nero and beans)

Photo 1 of 2
by Maria Teresa Jorge

Crostone con cavolo nero e cannellini beans (grilled bread with cavolo nero and beans)

Photo 2 of 2
by Maria Teresa Jorge

  • This recipe was entered in the contest for Your Best Way to Cook Greens
    This recipe was entered in the contest for Your Best Recipe for Beans
    This recipe was entered in the contest for Your Best Open House Dish
    This recipe was entered in the contest for Your Best Dirt Cheap Dinner
    This recipe was entered in the contest for Your Best Greens
  • Chef

    Maria Teresa Jorge's Notes: In Tuscany we make these Crostones in winter when the Cavolo Nero is young. It's a way of using up stale bread and when Cavolo Nero grows in such quantities you don't know what to do with...

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Serves 4

  1. Wash the dry cannellini or borlotti beans and soak them in water overnight.

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  2. In a large pot add the soaked beans, cover with water, add 2 tablespoons of olive oil, the sage leaves and 1 garlic clove. Do not cook them with salt or they will remain hard. Cover the pot with a lid and simmer about 20 minutes or until they are cooked. Add salt to taste and simmer for another 10 minutes uncovered.

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  3. Choose the younger leaves of your cavolo nero and wash them. Roughly tear them up and sautee them in 2 tablespoons of olive oil until al dente.

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  4. Cut the bread in slices 1/2 inch thick and when you have the Cavolo Nero and beans ready, put the bread slices under the grill and lightly toast them.

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  5. Have all the ingredients next to you so you make the crostone really quickly and serve them straight away otherwise they will become horribly soggy.

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  6. Cut the other garlic in half and very very lightly rub the toasted bread with the cut surface of the garlic clove. Top with the some sauteed cavolo nero and add on top some cooked beans. Drizzle a little extra virgin olive oil, a pinch of freshly ground black pepper and sprinkle with some fleur de sel.

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  7. Serve immediately.

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6 Comments on Crostone con cavolo nero e cannellini beans (grilled bread with cavolo nero and beans)

Lnd_jen Reply

This is one of my favorite dishes! I love making a big bruschetta and topping the beans and greens with a fried or poached egg - a simple and satisfying light meal for one.

Teresa_food52 Reply

Sounds good to me although I can eat 2 or 3 of these but the eggs I pass.

Cheese_for_twitter0001 Reply

Looks like a great combo. But what winter green here in the US is nearest to the Cavolo Nero?

Lnd_jen Reply

I think the closest thing you'll find here is Tuscan or Lacinato kale.

Img_1337_2 Reply

That's what I would suggest too. You can sometimes find cavolo nero in specialty shops, but it's rare.

Teresa_food52 Reply

Thank you Merril for the help. I went searching on the net and it came up as Black Cabbage. It's not the tightly heading, round cabbage, such as savoy. It's an leafy and separately foliated cabbage and I have added a photo I took from the web to the recipe so you understand what type of cabbage it is.

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