500gcooked borlotti beans, or white beans (from 200 g dried, soaked and cooked, or 2×400 g/14 oz canned, rinsed and drained)
2Tbspcapers, drained
2garlic cloves, finely chopped
2tspdijon mustard
6Tbspextra virgin olive oil
20gspring onions, green part only (4-5 pc), roughly chopped
20gflat leaf parsley, without thick stalks, roughly chopped
10gdill, without thick stalks, roughly chopped
375gmozzarella, I prefer buffalo
½lemon, in wedges
water
salt and pepper
How I make it
Heat the beans in 100 ml water in a large frying pan with high edges.
Whisk together capers, garlic, dijon mustard, extra virgin olive oil and some salt and pepper. Add spring onions, parsley and dill.
When the beans are hot, add the herb mixture and cook for a minute, stirring constantly. Taste for seasoning. Tear the mozzarella into large pieces and pour the beans over. Serve immediately.
Tips & notes
If using fresh beans in the pod you’ll need about 1 kg. Remove the beans by snapping the end and pulling the string to open the bean, like a zipper. This will yield c. 500 g beans. Boil in lightly salted water until soft, 30-40 minutes.
If using tinned beans you’ll need two tins of 400 g each (or one of 800 g). All you need to do is drain.
If using dried beans you’ll need about 200 g. Leave in plenty of water over night, change the water and boil until soft. Times may vary considerably depending on the age of the bean, so check regularly from half an hour onwards. I don’t put salt as it may make it more difficult to soften the beans.
Buffalo mozzarella is made from buffalo milk and is (considerably) tastier than regular mozzarella, made from cow’s milk. It is also more expensive. Get buffalo if you can and can afford it, though regular mozzarella will also work well.
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