Basily Pancetta-y Beans
Bask in their glory.
I regret to inform you that we’re calling meatballs “wonderballs” now.
Oh I wonder, wonder, what’s in a wonderball, amirite? (90’s kids will know)
I also regret to inform you that these aren’t beans with basil and pancetta, but basily pancetta-y beans. Thankfully, they’re delicious. They also utilize the Internet Shaquille cooking method. You’ll need:
2 cups of dried cannellinis
8 oz diced pancetta
one onion
two celery stalks
four garlic bulbs
6ish parsley sprigs
4ish basil leaves (+ a bunch for loose basil pesto (recipe at the end))
A Meyer lemon (normal lemon is fine)
Chicken stock
Olive oil
Parmesan cheeese (for loose basil pesto)
Good canola (for loose basil pesto)
Recipe start:
Soak your beans overnight in the fridge, cover with at least 2 inches of water. Sprinkle a couple pinches of salt in there.
The next day, crisp up the pancetta in a heavy pot on low heat. Use some olive oil if you need too. This takes a while FYI, like 20ish min, but also keep an eye on it so it doesn’t burn. Once their crispy, turn off the heat and place in a small bowl or something to be put back in later. Soak up or dump out the vast majority of the fat/oil.
Rinse your soaked beans and weigh them. Put them in the pancetta pot with 4 parts water and 1 part chicken stock. Cut the onion in half (don’t peel) and put it in the pot along with the celery, garlic (also unpeeled), and two strips of lemon peel. Add several twists of black pepper.*
Bring the water to a boil for 10-15 minutes. Turn down the heat and skim off any solid, foamy muck. Cover and turn down the heat to the lowest possible setting for an hour.
Open the lid and taste, both the liquid and beans. If they’re done, yay! Add two more pinches of salt, turn off the heat, add the basil, cover, and let them sit until cool enough to handle. If not, add two more pinches of salt, cover, and keep cooking. Check every 30 min until every bean is nice and creamy.
Once the beans are done, remove the onion, garlic, celery, parsley, and lemon peel. Remove the onion and garlic flesh and chop it up along with the celery. Put it back in the pot along with your cripsy pancetta. Adjust salt and pepper to your liking and add a heaping tablespoon of olive oil. Now you can pack up your beans and freeze them for a later date, or…
Heat up the beans again. Serve immediately with crusty bread and loose basil pesto if desired:
Blend one bunch basil (dunked in ice water), 1.5 tablespoons Parmesan cheese, a squeeze of lemon, a big pinch of salt, a few twists of black pepper, two tablespoons olive oil, and two tablespoons canola oil. Adjust seasoning to taste. Add more Parm if desired.
ENJOY!
This was so good honestly.
*Idk when to salt beans anymore man. Some people don’t salt them until the end. Some people salt them right at the beginning. I’ve been kind of splitting the difference these days. Just do whatever you want to do.
