The Ultimate Italian Green Beans

I know, I know, who cares about green beans? You. That’s who. At least you should. Especially when they’ve been slowly sautéed in olive oil with garlic and rosemary until they are soft and tender and oh so delicious.

I first ate these beans back in Italy at my Zia and Zio’s house, and I think as a family, we have collectively been obsessed with them ever since. My parents have made them several times, as have I. Even my boyfriend likes them, and he hates vegetables. I don’t want you to think that he magically decided that he liked healthy vegetables, because these aren’t exactly the healthiest option. While olive oil is good for you, you probably don’t want to be having THIS much of it on the regular.

That being said, you should still try these green beans so they can change your life too.

When I’m cooking, I never really measure anything, but here is a rough estimation of what it takes to make these little green beans delicious. Also, please note that they take about an hour or so to cook and impart all that delicious flavour. You could blanche the beans for a few minutes before hand if you wanted to speed up the process a bit.

Italian Green Beans

- about 1/4-1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

- 300g green beans (I used to use fresh from the store, but then I found that PC has a 500g bag of frozen green beans and they are the small kind like I had in Italy, so we’ve switched to those. It’s also a hell of a lot more convenient than fresh)

- about 5 cloves of garlic, minced

- about 1 tablespoon of dried rosemary (make sure you crush in between your fingers a bit when you add it to the pot)

- a pinch of salt

Start by steaming your green beans in a sauté pan over medium heat. I add a little bit of water to mine so they can start to defrost and soften faster. After about 15 minutes, add maybe 1/3 of the olive oil and start to sauté them over low heat. They should sizzle - but only just. After 20 or so minutes, add your rosemary and garlic, another 1/3 of the olive oil and continue to sauté. Keep checking on them to make sure that there is still some oil coating the bottom of the pan - you don’t want anything to burn. After another 15 minutes add the remaining 1/3 of the olive oil and a pinch of salt and sauté them just a little more, until your garlic is a perfect golden brown colour and you’re salivating because you need these green beans in your mouth ASAP. Then it’s time to eat!

These beans make a great side dish for any type of meat, really. I made them a couple nights ago along with mashed potatoes and pork tenderloin with wine and herb gravy using this recipe.

Will you try making these for your next meal? Let me know how they turn out!

- tess