Rain and cold weather are finally here! I know it’s sounds crazy but I’m really happy as I love the warm hearty dishes and I missed them to much. This month’s recipe comes from a well know Spanish chef using special Verdina green beans. They can be difficult to find but you can use the normal green beans for this dish and it will be still very tasty. Let’s go!


Ingredients
300g Verdina beans
1 onion
1 leek
3 cloves of garlic
15 strands of saffron
300g clams
2 tsp salt

METHOD

  1. Leave the dried verdina beans to soak in a large bowl of cold water for up to 8 hours before cooking. Ensure the beans are covered by 10cms water.
  2. Put the onion and leek, peeled and roughly chopped, into a large saucepan with two garlic cloves and the soaked beans. Cover with cold water, pour in 1 tbsp of olive oil and bring to the boil before simmering gently for 1.5 hours.
  3. After 1 hour, remove the onion, leek and garlic and blend with a little stock before adding to the pan with the beans.
  4. About 15 min before serving, toast the saffron strands for a few minutes in thick bottomed pan and add to the bean mix. Leave the beans to one side and prepare the clams, ensuring that you clean and rinse them well.
  5. To finish off the dish, take a large frying pan and cook 1 clove of chopped garlic in olive oil. Add the clams with a ladle of sauce from the beans. You will know the clams are cooked with they open. Spoon the bean stew into a serving bowl and mix in the clams. Season with salt to taste and serve.