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How to make Pugliese green beans in tomato sauce

Try making this quick and easy dish from southern Italy as a healthy side or tasty pasta sauce. Cook Silvana Lanzetta shares her family recipe.

Published: 16 August 2019 11:27 CEST
How to make Pugliese green beans in tomato sauce
Italian green beans in tomato sauce are easy, healthy and delicious. Photo: DepositPhotos

Green beans in tomato sauce are a traditional side dish from Puglia. They are very easy to make and extremely tasty.

I am not fond of green beans, so for many years, I have avoided buying them. However, their nutritional benefits are so significant that it was a shame not to introduce them into our diet.

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My daughter also hated them, because at her school they serve green beans plain, boiled or steamed. No seasoning.

Then I remembered one of my aunts, who was from Puglia. We didn’t stay for dinner often, but when we did, she used to prepare these delicious specialities, and we all just sat there stuffing our faces in silence. And one of those specialities were the green beans in tomato sauce!

A couple of phone calls and I got my beautiful new recipe. And when I served it, my daughter at first protested, but after the first reluctant bite, she ate everything and asked for more.

I now often prepare green beans in tomato sauce, and they are my kids’ favourite.


Photo: DepositPhotos

Ingredients (4 servings)

500 g green beans
250 g chopped tomatoes
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 tbsps extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp chopped parsley
A pinch of crushed chilli pepper
Salt to taste

Method

1. First wash the green beans under running cold water and clean them by removing both ends (top and tail). Then cook them for 15 minutes in salted boiling water.

2. Meanwhile, prepare the tomato sauce: in a large saucepan, gently heat the extra virgin olive oil, add the crushed garlic and the chilli, and cook on a very low heat until the garlic turns a light golden colour. Add the tomatoes, raise the heat to medium, and cook for 10 minutes.

3. Drain the green beans and add them to the tomato sauce. Season to taste and cook for another 10 minutes.

4. Sprinkle your green beans in tomato sauce with some chopped parsley and serve immediately. They are an excellent side to both fish or meat, and can be also used as a tasty and original pasta sauce.


Silvana Lanzetta. Photo: Private

Silvana Lanzetta was born into a family of pasta makers from Naples and spent 17 years as a part-time apprentice in her grandmother’s pasta factory. She specializes in making pasta entirely by hand and runs regular classes and workshops in London.

Find out more at her website, Pastartist.com, including this recipe and others.

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FEATURE

Italian recipe of the week: The perfect spaghetti carbonara

It has just three ingredients, but a lot of bite: artisan pasta maker Silvana Lanzetta shares her recipe for the perfect carbonara sauce.

Published: 19 February 2021 11:08 CET
Italian recipe of the week: The perfect spaghetti carbonara
An authentic carbonara sauce has only three ingredients. Photo: Flickr/Wine Dharma

Pasta alla carbonara (literally translated as 'coal workers’ pasta') is one of the most well-known and loved Italian delicacies: the creaminess of the eggs contrasting with the crispy guanciale makes it a pleasure to eat.

The origins of carbonara sauce are still uncertain. However, the recipe doesn’t appear until 1944, which prompts some speculations on how this delicious recipe came to be.

READ ALSO: The original recipe for authentic bolognese sauce

The most widely recognized theory is that this beloved Italian dish is an American adaptation of the traditional cacio e ova: when the Allied troops were stationed in Italy toward the end of World War Two, they got fond of pasta cacio e pepe, but to give them a “back home” flavour, they added smoked bacon to the recipe.

Roman people enthusiastically adopted the new dish, and quickly added it to their cooking.

They swapped the bacon for guanciale (the fat from a pig’s cheek) as they already had pasta recipes using guanciale and Pecorino cheese, the other two being pasta alla gricia and bucatini all’amatriciana.

Tips

Don't use Parmesan cheese for this recipe. However, if you're having difficulties finding guanciale, pancetta can be used instead.

Never add cream to the recipe: the creaminess is given by the sheer amount of grated Pecorino – so don't skimp on it! 

READ ALSO: Silvana's ten golden rules for cooking pasta like the Italians

Ingredients

  • 360 g spaghetti
  • 120 g guanciale
  • 4 eggs yolks
  • 1 whole egg
  • 150 g Pecorino Romano cheese
  • salt and pepper to taste

Method

Step 1:
In a non-stick pan, fry the guanciale in its own fat until slightly crispy, taking care not to brown it too much.

Step 2:
In a large bowl, beat the egg yolks and the whole egg with salt and pepper. Stir in the grated cheese until a thick cream is obtained. Add the cooked guanciale and reserve.

Step 3:
Cook the spaghetti al dente. Reserve about 100 ml of the cooking water. Drain the pasta well, and immediately pour the pasta into the bowl with the eggs. The heat of the pasta will cook the egg.

Step 4:
Add a little bit of the reserved cooking water, and mix well so as to coat all the pasta. If the sauce is still too dense, add some more cooking water. If too runny, stir in more cheese.

Step 5:
If necessary, season with more salt and pepper. Serve immediately sprinkled with extra grated Pecorino cheese.


Silvana Lanzetta. Photo: Private

Silvana Lanzetta was born into a family of pasta makers from Naples and spent 17 years as a part-time apprentice in her grandmother’s pasta factory. She specializes in making pasta entirely by hand and runs regular classes and workshops in London.

Find out more at her website, Pastartist.com, including this recipe and others.

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