Every year in our vegetable garden, we grow two varieties of beans – String beans and Italian flat beans. Italian flat beans are also known as Italian Pole or Romano beans. They are broad, flat podded, green snap beans with 5 to 6 inch pods. Italian flat beans can be eaten in two forms. The first green ones are eaten whole, pod and all. They are crispy and crunchy, with a mild beany flavor. Italian flat green beans can also be found in farmers' markets.
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| Dried beans |
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We also allow them to mature on the vine so that we have dried beans. They have more nutritional value but require a long cooking time to soften .
We plant the flat beans seeds directly
into moist soil in mid-spring and they
mature in the summer.
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| Beans on vines |
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| Seeded flat beans We provide support for the bean vines to climb and grow. |
Ingredients2 lb. Italian flat beans
3 fresh tomatoes chopped
Sprig of basil and parsley
2 cloves of garlic whole
1/4 cup olive oil
2 hot peppers (optional)
Salt and pepper to taste
In the meantime, in a pot of salted water, cook the flat beans until tender. Do not overcook. Drain beans, mix with sauce and serve.
I'm growing Romano beans for the first time this year so thanks for this! My tomatoes are starting to ripen finally so this looks like a winning combo. I also want to keep some for dried.
ReplyDeleteEllen - Thank you for stopping and commenting. Good luck with the Romano beans and wishing you a great harvest.
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting Elisa. I think the italian flats are the very best beans of all. Just the way they look is appetizing, those satin green fleshy pods are superb anyway they are served and the water used to cook them makes an excellent deglaze to lift pan juices for a gravy after roasting meats. I grew up in Fremantle Western Australia where many Italian families migrated to after WW2. What a culinary blessing that turned out to be for the local Aussies who, thanks to italian tradition and know how, coupled with a Mediterranean climate and limestone rich coastal soil, now have access to some truly spectacular food and wine..The flavour of the garlic here is just incredible, with many elderly Italians agreeing that the small purple bulbs their families brought with them back in the 1940s and 50s, have only improved over the years to become perfect with juice that is condenced, sticky and pungent when crushed so that a little goes a very long way....but ahh yes, the flat beans, we where talking about those beautiful flat beans.. ��
ReplyDeleteCheers
Kim