Do you know your fire?
Hankering for a hearty cold weather side-dish? This one happens to be made with a super power food, the cannellini bean - sometimes referred to the white kidney bean. Cannellini beans are a great source of fiber and iron.
Here's a recipe that I learned from my chef friend Gino in Tuscany. He serves this local speciality, a typical Sienese dish in his trattoria located in the medieval village of Montebeniche. You would die for his Fagioli al Fiasco, aka Beans in the Flask; basically beans cooked in a Chianti bottle. Note, without the wrapped straw. It's so simple, yet one of my most memorable dishes I tasted while in Italy.
Fagioli al Fiasco (aka Beans in the Flask)
Cannellini beans are soaked overnight in water with salt.
The next day put into the ‘fiasco’ or heat-proof crock with 2 Tbsp of olive oil and 2 cloves of garlic, a quarter onion, 2 sage leaves, a small piece of fresh rosemary. Then fill 3/4 full of water or better yet vegetable, chicken or meat broth. Bring beans up to a boil, then moved to a lower temperature, cap and gently simmered for an hour. Traditionally the fiasco was capped and put next to a dying fire in the hearth and slowly cook until the next day.
