The name of this stewed Tuscan contorno, or side dish, literally translates to “beans in the style of little birds”. There’s no poultry here though: just cannellini beans, flavored with the same trio of ingredients–tomatoes, garlic, and sage–that was commonly used to prepare game birds. This classic version of the vegetarian dish comes from Michela de Lori of Podere Sala.
FAGIOLI ALL’UCCELLETTO
Serves 6
INGREDIENTS
- 250 g dried cannellini beans
- 400 g passata di pomodoro
- 1 head of garlic
- Glug of olive oil
- A few sprigs of sage
- Salt and pepper, to taste
PREPARATION
- Start by soaking the beans in water overnight, a minimum of 10-12 hours.
- Rinse the beans. Cover in fresh water, add a sprig of sage, a couple cloves of garlic, and a splash of oil. You want to get as much flavor into the beans as you can.
- Bring the beans to a boil and skim any scum off the top. Then, lower the flame so that they cook gently, for 45 minutes to an hour, lid on.
- Once the beans are tender, drain them, reserving some of the cooking liquid from the beans.
- In the meantime, pan fry the garlic and sage in about 4 tablespoons of olive oil and add the passata di pomodoro, a couple spoonfuls of the cooking liquid from the beans, salt, and pepper. Leave it to simmer for around 10 minutes.
- Add the drained beans and more of the cooking liquid.
- Leave the beans to cook in the tomato sauce until they are perfectly cooked through and the flavors have all come together. Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Serve hot with a generous douse of olive oil.
