Inspire me with your butter bean recipes..

September 3, 2007 9:27 AM

Inspiring butter bean recipes... Does anyone have any ideas or tried and tested recipes for a pasta dish involving butter beans? Beans have already been soaked and are ready to use...
posted by farfaraway to food & drink (5 comments total)

Must it be a pasta recipe? I have a several-bean baked bean dish that's good (it's mostly, well, beans ... plus ketchup, brown sugar) if you want.
posted by Hey, Cupcake! at 10:21 AM on September 3, 2007

Bacon Butter Beans with Pasta

Prepare and drain 1 8oz dry package elbow macaroni, according to package directions. Reserve.

Prepare 4 cups (cooked volume) butter beans. Drain and reserve.

Chop 1 medium sweet onion finely.
Chop 4 oz. of medium white fresh mushroom finely.
Open 1 4.25 oz can of ripe, chopped black olives

Cut 16oz package of sliced maple cured American bacon into 1/2" columns (across direction of slice) with sharp knife. Fry bacon in large skillet over medium heat until resulting bacon bits are crisp, and fat is fully rendered. Reduce heat as necessary to avoid smoking bacon fat.

Add to bacon & fat, while stirring:
1/2 tsp cracked black pepper
1 tsp. dried basil flakes
1/2 tsp. dried marjoram flakes
Chopped sweet onion, mushroom and olive. Cook until onion is sweated.

Add butter beans, continuing to stir and turn, until bacon fat coats beans evenly. Remove from heat.

Add pasta, continuing to stir until pasta is evenly mixed. Finish dish with 1 tblsp. cider vinegar, and salt to taste. Serve.
posted by paulsc at 10:47 AM on September 3, 2007

butter beans are wonderful in soup. take a slice of bacon, dice it, and saute it to render the fat. saute half a minced onion and a clove or two of garlic in the fat (plus a little butter or olive oil). toss in the butter beans and a can or two of drained diced tomatoes. add chicken stock to cover and let bubble away for 20 minutes or so. stir in a bag of spinach until wilted and serve with lots of parmesan cheese.

i suppose you could serve this over pasta if you needed more starch...

alternatively, cook the beans in chicken stock until mushy. blend with grated onion, garlic, olive oil, and rosemary (and salt and pepper to taste) to make white-bean hummus.
posted by thinkingwoman at 12:04 PM on September 3, 2007

Simple and delicious, serves up well hot or cold, lasts for ages as leftovers... I always use butter beans for gigantes recipes, like this one.
posted by methylsalicylate at 3:58 AM on September 4, 2007

Not a pasta recipe, but I like butter beans and kielbasa together. Maybe they would be good together on pasta, too.
posted by Riverine at 7:44 PM on September 4, 2007