Sunday, November 29, 2009

Green Beans with Crispy Pancetta, Mushrooms, and Shallots

When I was younger, everyone seemed to love the green bean casserole with the cream of mushroom soup, topped with the French-fried onions with their turkey dinner.  I still love green beans, but the old stand-by casserole?  Not so much...

Thankfully,  my sister, who's in town for a few days, found an alternative recipe using green beans in one of the recent Fine Cooking magazines.  This takes green beans to whole new heights!  The mushrooms and shallots are a wonderful textural contrast to the still fresh-tasting green beans, and the warm vinaigrette coats the vegetables in additional delicious flavor.  And then we get to top the whole thing with crispy, crumbly pancetta.  The flavor is great, and the colors are beautiful...  THIS is a green bean dish I can get on board with!!!

Green Beans with Crispy Pancetta, Mushrooms, and Shallots
Serves 8

Kosher salt
1-1/2 pounds green beans, trimmed
2-1/2 ounces thinly sliced pancetta (five or six 1/4- to 1/2-inch-thick slices)
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided
6 medium cremini mushrooms, trimmed, halved if large, and very thinly sliced
2 medium-large shallots, halved lengthwise and very thinly sliced
1/4 cup very thinly sliced fresh sage leaves
1 tablespoon sherry vinegar
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard

Fill a large mixing bowl with ice cubes and water and set aside.  Fill a 6- or 7-quart pot two-thirds full of well-salted water.  Bring the water to a boil, and boil the beans, uncovered, until tender to the bite, 4 to 6 minutes.  Drain, transfer the beans to the bowl of ice water, and let sit until cooled, about 2 minutes. (This completely stops the cooking process and retains the color of the beans.)  Drain and pat dry.

Put the pancetta in a 12-inch nonstick skillet and cook over medium-low heat until crisp and browned, 10 to 12 minutes.  Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate and coarsely crumble.  Remove the pan from the heat and let it cool slightly.

Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil to the pan and return it to medium-high heat.  Add the mushrooms, shallots, and 1/4 teaspoon salt and cook, stirring frequently, until both are nicely browned and shrunken, about 5 minutes.  Add the sage and cook, stirring until fragrant, about 30 seconds.  Take the pan off the heat and add the vinegar, mustard, and the remaining 1 tablespoon oil.  Stir to combine.

Return the pan to medium heat, add the green beans and toss to combine and heat through, 2 to 3 minutes.  Season to taste with salt.  Transfer to a warm serving platter and garnish with the pancetta.

Make ahead:  The beans can be boiled and refrigerated up to 6 hours ahead.  The remaining ingredients can also be prepped up to 6 hours ahead and held in the refrigerator.  An hour before finishing, remove the beans from the refrigerator to come to room temperature.


Source:  Fine Cooking, Oct/Nov 2009


16 comments:

  1. Looks great Lori...I made green beans with Pancetta and shallots! They rocked!
    L~xo

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  2. That is just how I like my beans too. It is one of the only vegetables I cook with that really tastes better with extra salt.
    Best wishes, Natasha.

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  3. They are gorgeous Lori!

    I spy!! Saw you on Tastespotting again ~ you are a shining star my friend. :)

    We would gobble these up in no time; such a fabulous combination. Brava!! xo

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  4. Lori, these sound ,=very much like the green beans that I LOVED on our trip to Italy!! They were served at every rest stop/buffet line on the highway from Naples in the south up to Milan. Always at room temperature, too and they were WONDERFUL!! I've tried & tried to duplicate the oil & vinegar combination that made them so flavorful. I'm thinking your shallots & bacon might just be the secret ingredients that I'm looking for. I will most definitely be trying this recipe very soon! Thank you!

    fondly,
    Rettabug

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  5. OK, this looks just fabulous. I have fresh green beans in the garden, shallots in the garden, but no pancetta! Printed your recipe and it looks scrumptious. Thank you.

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  6. We've been on a fabulous vacation for our 40th -- so I'm now catching up (I didn't want to pay the $$$ for using computers on the ship) -- these look yummy I must admit that the "green bean casserole" has never graced the table at Linderhof!

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  7. That is one beautiful, delicious green bean dish. I would never get away with leaving out the green bean, mushroom soup version with turkey. I'll save your version for Christmas.

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  8. This sounds glorious to me! I am so ready for vegetables!

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  9. This is a wonderful green bean dish. The green beans look so flavorful. Just love it.

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  10. Green beans are my favourite vegetable. What a great looking recipe. Wonderful photo to.

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  11. Oh my gosh, I have to try these! I LOVE green beans and trying different ways to cook them. Thank you :)

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  12. I'm with you. This is the way to cook green beans. Forget the mushroom soup sauce. LOL

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  13. This looks fantastic! I am trying to figure out in my head how to work this into my Christmas Eve dinner menu!

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  14. Your pic makes the green beans look so tasty! I love green beans plain, but this dresses them up so nicely...how could we resist? Hope you had a great Thanksgiving!

    Diane

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  15. I love your recipes but I can't figure out how to print them without the black background. Am I missing something? Do you have a printer friendly version? Thanks!

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  16. Anonymous, I'm working on creating printer-ready copies of the recipes, with a link taking you to them. I should have this one ready by the time you re-visit!!

    Please don't hesitate to drop me an email should you have problems copying any of the other recipes on my blog!

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