I grow a lot of different shell beans including at least two varieties of borlottos. They're one of our favorite things from the garden this time of year. Here's some advice about cooking them. Put a good size sprig of fresh rosemary and a chunk of raw onion in the water. Add a tablespoon or more of olive oil. Cook them over medium heat or simmer and don't add salt until the last minute or so. We are particularly fond of them in salads, either at room temperature or cold, dressed with a good homemade vinaigrette.

Add delicious, crisp bacon, crumbled (all fat discarded) and chopped parsley to your recipe and serve at room temperature. Add spicy chilli peppers to taste... Top with sieved (or finely chopped) hard-boiled eggs and snipped chives.

To make other side vegetables:
- add to your base recipe of precooked beans + oil + garlic + salt:
ÂRicotta cheese + Tomato sauce + chilli pepper
ÂSwiss Chard, coarsely chopped, cooked with Ricotta cheese, tomatoes, and sauteed onion
ÂSpicy chilli peppers (finely diced) sauteed with chopped onion and diced sweet potato
Âlook in your garden for herbs and vegetables to cook with your beans

Make tapas

For snacks:
Serve freshly-shelled, green Borlotto beans raw:
 with pecorino cheese
 with thinly sliced, salty Country ham, or Serano ham, or other salty, dry-cured ham à la fava beans.
 with canned anchovie filets in oil?? Roll a filet around a bean. Push a toothpick through to hold things together. Good with drinks and cocktails?
 with cured olives & spicy chilli flakes. Dress with excellent olive oil and finely chopped parsley.

You could make your shellies into snacks, Ã la beer nuts. Spice them up and go easy on the sugar. I came across a Thai beer-nut recipe but it seemed too heavy on the dried anchovies, so I won't post the link. But you could Google and read recipes and get inspired.

Make them into hummus and serve with toasted pita.

Thanks to both of you!

llaz - We have lots of rosemary growing here, and plenty of shallots from the summer crop, so I'll try that - also thanks for the tip about not salting the cooking water up front.

ppod - thanks for all the excellent suggestions - not only are there some great-sounding recipes, but the whole gives me a better understanding of how to use these beans. Much appreciated!

I'll definitely be trying out the tapas recipe, as we have fresh homemade goat cheese, homegrown garlic, the garden is full of scallions and mint, there is one shiny yellow lemon on the Meyer we planted last year, my wife makes fresh bread every few days, and we eat tapas-style for dinner most of the time. So it's perfect for us!

I grew Savory among the beans, and have been including a wad of finely chopped fresh leaves in the olive oil, to good effect. We also have a big crop of Swiss chard and are looking for new ways to use that as well.

A little OT, but I recommend making a tart with the Swiss Chard. Saute the chard a bit then put it in an unbaked pie shell with some shredded cheese and 3 beaten eggs. Season and bake.

Or, use the recipe linked below from Bon Apetit.

Jim

Here is a link that might be useful: Swiss Chard and Herb Tart

Al, we haven't even touched on Italian soups and pastas with Borlotto beans yet!

BTW, did you let "Dragon's Tongue" develop seeds, and if so, what did you think of their culinary quality as shellies?

Thanks for posting about "Tongue of Fire" being disappointing as a snap; your experience will be useful for others.

Unfortunately, Juliegal didn't come back to her thread, but she posted pictures of some mighty fine Borlottos.

Apropos Swiss Chard: This Lasagna picture & recipe inspires. See previous post, Swiss Chard + Ricotta = Delicious

I did let Dragon's Tongue set seed, and am now waiting for it to dry - in fact I have to run out and pull all the plants this morning, ahead of the rain that's coming in. Takes forever for beans to dry in this climate. So I haven't tried them as shellies yet, but am told they are good.

What's the diff between "shellies" and "dry bean" or is there any?

Shellies are beans that are grown but not mature. Think of them as teenagers. Dry beans are dry mature beans. Seeds are dry beans. Shellies are eaten fresh, canned, or frozen. Dry beans keep for a long time just stored in a bin, or bag in the pantry. These are actually southern peas but the idea is the same.
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