An Update on Giada’s Best Ever Green Bean recipe!

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My plan was to revisit an incredible recipe from Giada De Laurentiis for Sauteed Green Beans with Tomatoes and Basil served with Parmesan Crisps. And…if you know anything about me, you know that I seldom cook the same thing twice! However seeing these fresh french green beans from Talley Farms brought back memories of Giada’s delicious beans simmering in a fresh tomato and basil sauce, and I couldn’t resist!

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In looking at the directions for the recipe, the first step was to boil the green beans and then cool them in an ice bath. Since I have been reading up on the best ways to handle fresh vegetables lately, I decided that I was going to skip that step. One thing I have learned is to avoid boiling vegetables in water to allow you to keep all of the nutrients intact for a much healthier meal. I figured if I sautéed the green onions and garlic and then added the fresh beans, I could cook them slightly before adding the tomatoes. They would continue to become tender crisp while the tomatoes were cooking down. The heirloom tomatoes I used from my Talley Farms CSA box had enough juice in them so I didn’t even need to add any extra liquid and this process worked perfectly!

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To change things up a bit more, I decided to upgrade this side dish to something more robust by adding some pan fried sweet Italian sausage into the mixture. It resulted in a hearty dish with rich Italian flavors with the heirloom tomato sauce, fresh basil and fennel scented sausage. Yum!

SAUTEED GREEN BEANS WITH TOMATOES, BASIL AND SWEET ITALIAN SAUSAGE

Adapted from Giada De Laurentiis

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 lbs fresh green beans, trimmed
  • 2 Tbsp unsalted butter
  • 1 Tbsp olive oil
  • 4 green onions, thinly sliced, white and light green parts only
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 2 large or 3 medium fresh tomatoes, peeled, cored and chopped retaining all juice
  • 1/4 cup dry white wine or you can use chicken broth (only use if you need extra liquid that the tomatoes did not provide)
  • 2 Tbsp thinly sliced fresh basil
  • salt and freshly ground pepper
  • 1-2 sweet Italian sausage links, casing removed and crumbled

Directions

  1. Melt the butter and oil in a heavy, large skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and garlic and sauté until tender, about 2 minutes. Add the green beans and pan fry for 3 minutes. Add the tomatoes and their juice and cook until the juices evaporate and the beans are almost tender, stirring often, up to 10 minutes.
  2. In a separate fry pan heat 1 tablespoon olive oil. Add sausage and fry about 5-7 minutes until barely pink.  Using a slotted spoon, add the sausage to the bean mixture.
  3. Stir in the wine, if needed and basil. Simmer 2 minutes longer. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Transfer to a serving bowl and serve.

 (Printable recipe can be found in my recipe index under Side Dishes)

 

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