(a bean pottage with herbs and (optional) bacon)
To make a meat of young Beanes with flesh or otherwise
Take Beanes and blanch them with whot water like almonds, then set them to boile, and when they are boiled, put to them a little Parsely, and Mints well beaten, and seeth them with salt Beefe or Bacon, let it be somewhat green and it is the better. The like may be done with pease and other fruits when they are greene.
(from Epulario, a 1598 English translation of the original Italian text)
- 3 cups fresh beans or peas (shelled).
- water, to cover
- 4 tablespoons dried mint or 1 bunch fresh mint, chopped
- 4 tablespoons dried parsley or 1 bunch fresh parsley, chopped
- 4 rashers bacon, chopped (optional)
Put beans in pot, cover with water. Bring to the boil. Add other ingredients. Simmer for at least 10 minutes.
Notes:
I originally made this with non-fresh beans. It was good, but needed a bit of extra flavour in my opinion, so I added a little stock to the water. It was good, but it wasn't quite what the original recipe said to do. Nevertheless, it would make an excellent dish for camp cooking.