Green Beans Gremolata

June 10th, 2014

Green Beans Gremolata 1

 

While shopping at one of my favorite Supermarkets, I found a package of Haricot Vert, the lovely French thin green beans.  By the way, that store is a mega Harris Teeter store that we have dubbed the Taj maTeeter.  Although I usually like to shop at small stores with quality ingredients, Farmer’s markets and butcher shops, sometimes a trip to a mega store yields interesting ingredients.  Haricot Vert are hard to find.  Translated haricot means beans, vert means green.  French green beans are thinner and longer than the beans that we grow here in the United States.

Green Beans Gremolata 2V

 

The beans are cooked quickly and then put in an ice and water bath to stop the cooking and set the color.  This can be done way ahead of time.  What makes the beans taste so special is the gremolata garnish that is added during the final cooking.  Gremolata is a mixture of garlic, parsley, lemon zest, Parmesan cheese and toasted pine nuts.  It is usually associated with Osso Bucco, the popular Milanese veal shank dish.  The slow cooked veal shanks are garnished with the gremolata mixture.  But used on the green beans, the mixture sings with flavor.

Green Beans Gremolata 3

 

This is a wonderful side dish for a company meal.  Eat your heart out Dave S..  This was supposed to be for you.  We had a wonderful time at the blogger get together at Almost Heaven South.  There will be more about our gathering in future posts.  But in the meantime, enjoy this lovely and delicious side dish.

GREEN BEANS GREMOLATA (Ina Garten)

1 pound French green beans, trimmed
2 teaspoons minced garlic ( 2 cloves )
1 tablespoon grated lemon zest ( 2 lemons )
3 tablespoons minced fresh flat-leaf parsley
3 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons tasted pine nuts
2 1/2 tablespoons good olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Bring a large pot of water to a boil.  Add the green beans and blanch them for 2 to 3 minutes, until tender but still crisp.  Drain the beans in a colander and immediately put them into a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking and preserve their bright green color.

For the gremolata, toss the garlic, lemon zest, parsley, Parmesan, and pine nuts in a small bowl and set aside.

When ready to serve, heat the olive oil in a large saute pan over medium-high heat.  Drain the beans and pat them dry.  Add the beans to the pan and saute, turning frequently, for 2 minutes, until coated with olive oil and heated through.  Off the heat, add the gremolata and toss well.  Sprinkle with 3/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper and serve hot.

Printable Recipe

 

11 responses to “Green Beans Gremolata”

  1. Penny says:

    This sounds wonderful. You can get these at Fresh Market too. I wish we were at the weekend event. Maybe next year. Looking forward to Saturday!
    xo
    Penny

  2. katrynka says:

    This looks yummy!!

  3. BabyJune says:

    Looks like a great preparation for green beans! Will have to try this with some fresh beans from the local farm. 🙂

  4. Darla says:

    Looks like a wonderful recipe for the French green beans in my community plot. Wouldn’t it be great if I had a good harvest before our trip to lake lure? Looks like my tomato harvest may be later, so we won’t have the bounty we normally do in Sept!

  5. Pondside says:

    This is my favourite side dish when green beans are fresh in the farmers’ market. I can almost taste them!

  6. Sam Hoffer says:

    Gorgeous dish Penny. I can’t wait to try the gremolata garnish. Like you, I love French green beans.
    Sam

  7. Susan says:

    I wanted to buy green beans this week and my local store and they looked awful so had to pass them up. Your haricots vert look lovely and the gremolata sounds delicious. Wish we had one of those Teeter Totter stores 🙂

  8. Jane says:

    Penny,,,I actually found haricot verts (spelling???) at Costco for a recipe. This sounds fantastic and I will be sure to try it!! Glad that weekend you had was good! 🙂

    Jane

  9. Cuisinedeprovence says:

    I really like Gremolata on Osso Bucco but have never thought to garnish Haricot Verts with this – will try!

  10. cheri says:

    These look delicious, the green beans look so fresh, love the idea of the gremolata on top!

  11. Karen (Back Road Journal) says:

    Sometimes we need those big stores for hard to find items. Your green beans sound terrific with the gremolata topping…I’ll definitely give this recipe a try. We are grilling lamb here at the lake today and I think they would go great with the meal.

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