White beans with greens, garlic and sage
This is a lovely, rustic main eaten with roasted squash or sausages. You can use any greens – kale, chard, beet greens, spring or summer greens or spinach. Try to use dried beans, as they absorb the flavours of sage and garlic during cooking. If you do use tinned beans, only add 2 cloves of garlic and a few sage leaves and cook for 10 minutes rather than 45.
Ingredients
- 200g cannellini beans or white haricot beans, soaked for 5 hrs or overnight
- handful fresh sage leaves or 2 tbsp dried sage
- 8 garlic cloves
- 3 tbsp olive oil, and extra to garnish
- 4-5 heads greens, washed, woody stalk end removed and roughly sliced
- juice of ½-1 lemon
- salt and pepper
Method
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Step 1
Drain and rinse the soaked beans and place in a large pan. Cover with fresh water to about 2.5 cm above the beans. Bring to the boil for 5 minutes and skim off any froth
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Step 2
Reduce to a simmer and add sage, garlic and half the olive oil. Cook gently, stirring gently now and then, until beans are tender (about 45 minutes but can take longer). Add a little more water during cooking if needed - keep beans covered but not swimming in liquid.
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Step 3
Once beans are tender, add about 1 tsp salt and stir. While beans are cooking, steam the greens until just tender.
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Step 4
Drain and immediately run under cold water, and squeeze out excess water. When beans are cooked, add the greens and simmer together for 5-10 minutes
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Step 5
Taste, add more salt if needed, plenty of black pepper, lemon juice and the remaining oil. Serve at room temperature drizzled with some more olive oil.
