Ingredients
After soaking the beans for between 18 and 24 hours, boil them and leave them to cool in the water they were cooked in. In the meantime, prepare a mixture of olive oil, butter, lardo pork fat, onion, rosemary, bay leaves, salt and pepper. Braise the mixture and add the Barbera wine, allowing it evaporate completely. Continue cooking for half an hour, adding water a little at a time. Once cooled, drain the beans and add them to the sauce. Mix well and serve.
Fagiolana beans are an ecotype of white bean (of the Spanish variety) that were traditionally grown in the Borbera river valley. Another tasty stew made using fagiolana beans uses tripe. To prepare it, fry a mixture of chopped onion, carrot and celery in oil and add finely sliced tripe, tomatoes – fresh or tinned plum tomatoes – and a mixture of chopped garlic and parsley. Cook over a low heat, adding a bit of vegetable broth if the sauce looks too dry. Add salt and pepper to taste and, once the sauce is almost ready, add the boiled beans, allowing them to absorb the sauce’s flavours for a few minutes. Serve with a generous amount of grated parmesan.
The beans work equally well with goat’s meat. First remove the bones and dice the meat, adding a mixture of chopped rosemary, bay leaves, garlic and onion previously braised in oil and butter. After having poured the tomato sauce in and added salt and pepper to taste, throw in the parsley, beans and cook for about an hour, adding vegetable broth when necessary.