Slow-Cooked Green Beans
Instructions:
An adaptation of a Greek recipe I learned from the great
cookbook author Paula Wolfert. Although “overcooking”
vegetables is out of favor, these are meltingly tender and
delicious.
Other vegetables you can use: wax beans.
About 11/2 pounds green beans, the smaller the
better, trimmed
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, plus oil for sprinkling
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup peeled, seeded, and chopped tomato (drained
canned is fine)
1/2 cup water, plus more if needed
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Freshly squeezed lemon juice to taste, plus a few
drops for sprinkling
MAKES: 4 servings
TIME: About 1 hour
- Combine all the ingredients in a large saucepan and bring to a boil. Cover tightly and cook over medium-low heat for 1 hour, checking every 15 minutes and adding a few tablespoons of water if necessary. Longer cooking, up to 1 hour longer, will not hurt a bit.
- When the beans are very tender and all the liquid is absorbed, they are ready. (At this point, you may refrigerate the beans, well wrapped or in a covered container, for up to 2 days.) Serve hot or at room temperature, sprinkled with a little more oil and a few more drops of lemon juice.
- Slow-Cooked Green Beans with Bacon.
- Add 1 strip chopped bacon to the pot along with the beans.
- Green Beans, Pears, and Ham.
- Substitute 2 somewhat ripe pears, preferably Bosc, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks, for the onion and 8 ounces ham, cut into 1/2-inch chunks, for the tomato. For Step 1, put a couple tablespoons olive oil in the hot pan, add the ham, and brown it a bit. Add the pears, green beans, and 1 cup chicken stock or water; cook at a constant bubble until the green beans are crisp-tender and the liquid is reduced to a sauce (this will take only 15 to 20 minutes). Sprinkle with a bit of salt (remember the ham will add a good amount of salt too) and a good dose of pepper. Serve hot.