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Stewed Borlotti Beans

5.0(24)

Pop the cap from a bottle of dunkel alongside that pastrami on rye. The beer’s bitter, hoppy finish has touches of smoke and spice, like the rich meat. But its relatively light body balances the succulence of the sandwich.Taking the deli icon as my inspiration, I simmered some borlotti beans (kidney, black or cannellini beans would do just as well) with chunks of pastrami instead of the more usual smoked pork or sausages. Mustard seeds, cumin and black pepper picked up the seasonings in the meat. The caraway suggested seeded rye. For a final grace note, I swirled in some prepared mustard.Serve the beans for a hearty lunch or supper, with slabs of sturdy rye bread and pickles.

by Florence Fabricant

Open original recipe

Dinner, Weeknight, Beans, Main Course

Servings

(3–4)

Total time

2h 30m

Calories / serving

443 kcal

Ingredients (13)

serves

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oilextra-virgin-olive-oil
1 medium onion, finely choppedonion
3 garlic cloves, mincedgarlic
1 teaspoon brown mustard seeds
1/2 teaspoon caraway seedscaraway
1/2 teaspoon ground cumincumin
1 1/2 cups borlotti or other dried beans (about 10 ounces)
3 thyme sprigsthyme
4 1/2 to 5 cups beef stock
1/2 pound pastrami, in one piecepastrami
Saltsalt
pepperpepper
1 tablespoon Dijon mustarddijon-mustard

Instructions (3 steps)

01Heat the oil in a 3-quart saucepan. Add the onion and garlic and sauté on medium heat until soft. Stir in the mustard seeds, caraway and cumin. Cook a minute or so, then stir in the beans and thyme. Add 4 1/2 cups stock, bring to a boil, then reduce to a very low simmer. Cut pastrami into 6 pieces and add.
02Simmer, stirring from the bottom occasionally to make sure the beans are not sticking, adding a little more stock as needed. After an hour, season with salt and pepper. Simmer another 45 minutes to an hour, until the beans are tender and the broth has thickened and reduced and is no longer soupy.