Description
Top a pizza crust with some Marinated Corona Beans, chopped fresh tomatoes, and feta cheese, throw it on the grill, and you’ve got yourself perfection. Adds fiber and protein to your everyday salads. On toast, it’s a great breakfast, or just eat them with a fork.
Ingredients
- 3 cups cooked* Gigante beans**, drained and rinsed
- 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil (now's the time to break out the good stuff)
- 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
- 2-3 tablespoons chopped Calabrian chilis, preferably oil-packed, finely minced (a red Fresno will work as well)
- 2 garlic cloves, finely minced
- 1 teaspoon Diamond Kosher salt
- Freshly cracked black pepper (about 1/2 teaspoon)
Instructions
In a bowl, stir together the cooked Corona beans, olive oil, lemon juice, basil, chilis, garlic, salt, and several give it 20 (yes, 20) grinds of pepper. Add more olive oil as needed to coat the beans well.
Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours; it gets better as it sits. Season to taste (refrigeration can dull seasonings, so be sure to taste it and adjust as needed!). Serve.
Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 7 days.
Notes
*To cook the beans: Soak overnight in a generous bowl of water (they will expand, so be sure to have enough) with 2 teaspoons kosher salt. Simmer beans for 40 minutes to an hour until tender to the bite.
Cooking times depend on the age of your beans; some take longer, some not so much. If you need to skip the soaking bit (many people do not soak), then the beans will take anywhere from 1 1/2-2 1/2 hours to cook.
You will need 1 cup (about 7 oz.) dry Gigante (often called Corona) beans to make 3 cups of cooked.
**also called Gigante beans, I buy dry beans from Rancho Gordo (mail order from California). Lakewinds Co-op and WholeFoods also carry large dry beans. These are one of my favorite beans, very meaty and earthy. Beans take on any flavor you give them; they are loaded with fiber, protein, and nutrients galore!