A guy at work says it isn’t fair when Bobby Flay adds pancetta to his dishes on Iron Chef… in fact he says it’s cheating. Everything is better with pancetta.
I agree.
Green beans are so good for you… but gosh they can be boring. I’m not a huge fan of the green bean casserole with the styrofoam onions… and I wasn’t cooking Asian food or I had have gone the stir fry green bean hoison route… so I decided to try this combination.
I was really surprised how well this turned out and I couldn’t keep dipping into the bowl for more. I’ll be buying more green beans and preparing this all summer. There is no dairy so it would make a perfect BBQ side dish.
INGREDIENTS
- 1/2 pound green beans, trimmed
- 1 – 1/4 inch thick slice pancetta
- 2 tablespoons chopped walnuts
- 1 small shallot, minced
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- Salt and pepper
DIRECTIONS
Bring a large pot of water to a boil, add green beans and parboil for about 4 minutes. Transfer to a cold water bath and drain. Add to serving bowl.
Dice pancetta into small pieces and add to a COLD skillet with a little olive oil. heat the skillet over medium heat and cook pancetta until crispy. Drain on paper towels.
In the same pan as the pancetta, toast the walnuts over medium heat until they become fragrant, about 2 minutes, and then transfer them to a small bowl to cool.
Add the onion, walnuts and pancetta to the beans and stir to combine.
In another small bowl, whisk together the oil, vinegar and mustard. Toss the dressing with the green beans and season with salt and pepper. Serve warm or at room temperature.
This sounds absolutely divine!! And I think I can get all the ingredients here in Australia (bonus). Yummy yummy, can’t wait to try this one!
Beans, beans, the magical fruit….