Italian Green Beans & Potatoes w/ Some Random Bites



Most people have never tried Romano beans, also known as flat Italian beans.
They are flat and fatter than regular green beans and I can never seem to find them.

When I was a kid, my grandmother used to buy them in a can and I LOVED THEM!
They were always cut on the bias, and big and fat.

Growing up in NJ, my friend Angela's mom would make a garlicky medley of Romano beans and potatoes with tons of garlic and oil in a big aluminum pan for parties. I would have heartburn for days, but it was oh so worth it.

It was nice to see Lidia Bastianich's recipe for Italian green beans & potatoes on Theresa's blog. It brought back good memories.

Well, Theresa brought me good luck, because that day I found a bunch of them at the Tuesday farmer's market!!!!

I had no choice but to make Italian green beans and potatoes!

I like this cold out of the fridge too, but don't tell anyone.

1.5 lbs. of Italian flat green beans, cleaned & cut on the bias
2 large Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cubed (or sliced)
8 cloves garlic, sliced thin
1/3 cup of good olive oil
salt & pepper
splash of vinegar (optional)

In a large pot of boiling salted water, boil potatoes for 6 minutes.

In the same pot of boiling water, add your cut green beans and boil 6 minutes along with the potatoes.
Drain in a colander.



In a heavy skillet, heat some of the olive oil on medium heat and saute the garlic slices until fragrant, about a minute.
Add the beans and potatoes and saute another minute, adding more olive oil, salt & pepper.

romano beans3

Enjoy!

Here are some Random Bites from the week........

Paulie Gee and Adam Kuban from Serious Eats invited us to a SLICE event at a cool place in Hopewell, NJ called NOMAD pizza. Check out this SLICE article on Nomad.

They started out making their Neapolitan style pies in a traveling 1949 REO Speedwagon truck!
They have a permanent home now in Central, NJ. Check out their vegetable garden in the parking lot.
They use only fresh, local ingredients for their salads and pizzas.



A group of 25 pizza nuts dined on fontina, shitake mushroom & caramelized onion; prosciutto & arugula; pepperoni; sausage and margherita pies. Mexican Coke & Pepsi (no corn syrup, only real sugar used). It was fun to meet other pizza addicts and try this excellent New Jersey pie.

Thanks to Paulie and Adam for getting everyone together.

Comments

kat said…
Great side dish! I've been craving coke with real sugar ever since we got back from India.
Ciao Chow Linda said…
Those are my favorite kind of green beans - and the way you made them with the potatoes is great - just the way my mother-in-law made them. It was so nice to be with you and finally meet Henry at the Nomad pizza event.
Jen_from_NJ said…
The green beans look delicious! Oh, and the Nomad pizza event looks like it was fun and the pizza looks so very good! I am looking forward to having Nomad pizza at the upcoming Cherry Grove Farm Pasture Party.
ditto on pizza. saw rachel ray do green beans and she almost sold me but u had me at the pizza.
do i win a note for helping keep folks lean and healthy w/my books 'n blog on olive oil/vinegar/chocolate?
Dana said…
I got some of those beans in my CSA a few weeks ago and ended up giving them away because I didn't know what to do with them. Now I know!
The beans and potatoes look great. I hope I can find Romano beans, I've never had them before.
Yum! I can totally see this being delicious cold right from the fridge!! Possibly at midnight :)

Sues
Melbourne Girl said…
I tried the potato and bans dish today for my lunch. Sensational! Thank you

Lesley
The JR said…
Your recipe looks simple and tasty. I'd have to use plain ol green beans. Haven't seen those here.

The pizza nuts looked like they dined in style.

Ramona
This is one of my mom's favorite dishes! Even though we're on the Left Coast, it's funny how our Italian moms were cooking the same thing!
Pamela said…
I love this recipe. My grandmother use to make it all the time. You are the only one that makes it this way. I have looked all over the internet and cannot find anyone who makes it likes this. Oh well. Most of the time I have to make it with regular green beans because it’s very hard to find Roman beans��. But I am going to grow them next year in my garden. You can find them sometimes frozen or in the can but they are not the same.
Have a good day.