The beans and lentils occupy an entire shelf of the larder that sits adjacent but not quite close enough to the kitchen. Beans of every shape and size, from tiny cannellini the size of a jellybean to plump and beefy butter beans. Dried haricot and chickpeas, dry as the desert, sit patiently in glass storage jars ready to be soaked for long-cooked soups. Soft, plump butter beans and haricot in fat, screw top bottles await their moment to be turned into supper in a few minutes. There is, I like to think, a bean or lentil for every occasion.
This week, as the temperature dipped and the few remaining leaves in the garden swirled, dervish like, in the wind, the beans came out of hiding. A jar of soft haricot the colour of buttermilk became a substantial yet gently flavoured soup, simmered with roast garlic and rosemary, while most diminutive of all – green-grey lentils – found their way into a silky spinach sauce for roast aubergines.
Aubergines with creamed lentils
A substantial dish for a chilly night. I have also eaten the lentils, spinach and cream with grilled lamb steaks, which was quite wonderful. Serves 2. Ready in 1 hour
olive oil 6 tbsp
aubergines 2
lentils 150g, small, green
onion 1, medium
garlic 4 cloves
thyme 6 bushy sprigs
rosemary 4, sprigs
spinach leaves 125g
double cream 200ml
parsley leaves 3 tbsp
Set the oven at 200C/gas mark 6. Warm 2 tbsp of the olive oil in a roasting tin. Cut the aubergines in half, then score deep cuts into the surface, almost through to the skin and about 1cm apart, then back the opposite way, to give a lattice pattern. This will help the heat to go deep into the flesh. Bake the aubergines for 45 minutes until soft and pale gold.
Meanwhile bring a deep, medium-sized pan of water to the boil, add the lentils and cook for about 20 minutes until just tender. Drain and set aside.
Peel and roughly chop the onion, then let it cook in the remaining olive oil, in a medium-sized saucepan for about 10-12 minutes until it is soft. While it is cooking, peel the garlic and slice very finely, then stir into the onion. Strip the leaves from the thyme and rosemary (you need a heaped tsp of each) and finely chop then stir them into the onions.
Remove the stems from the spinach, then wash the leaves in cold water. While the leaves are still wet, put them into a deep saucepan over a moderate heat, cover with a lid and let them cook in their own steam for a couple of minutes. Turn the leaves over with kitchen tongs and leave to soften and darken in colour for a minute or two. Remove the pan from the heat and lift the leaves into the pan of onions. You can discard the juices left in the spinach pan.
Stir the cream into the onion and spinach, season generously with salt and pepper and stir in the parsley. Spoon the lentils on to plates with the aubergines.
Haricot, roast garlic and rosemary soup
A gentle soup with deep notes of sweet, roasted garlic. Good as it is, I also like to pour it over a thick slice of toast torn up in the bottom of the bowl. The bread will become saturated with the soup. It isn’t practical to put the oven on purely to roast a head of garlic, so I cook a couple of heads at a time, using some for this soup, then keeping the others in the fridge for use in other recipes. Serves 4. Ready in 1 hour
garlic 1 head
olive oil
onion 1, large
thyme 6 sprigs
rosemary 6 bushy sprigs
haricot beans 600g, drained weight
vegetable stock 1.25 litres
For the breadcrumbs:
butter 75g
breadcrumbs 100g, soft, white
flaked almonds 25g
parsley leaves 20g, chopped
lemon zest 1 tbsp
Preheat the oven to 200C/gas mark 6. Place the whole head of garlic, still in its papery skin, on a piece of kitchen foil, trickle with a tbsp of olive oil, then pull the edges of the foil together and scrunch them together to seal. Bake in the preheated oven for 25 minutes until the garlic is sweet smelling and the cloves are soft enough to crush between finger and thumb.
Peel and roughly chop the onion. Warm 2 tbsp of olive oil in a deep saucepan, stir in the onion and let it cook over a moderate heat for 15 minutes or so, until it is soft and translucent.
Separate the garlic cloves and remove the flesh from its skin. I find this easiest to do by squeezing each clove until the creamy flesh pops out, then stir into the onions. Pull the leaves from the thyme sprigs – you need about 2 tsp – and stir in with the onion. Remove the rosemary leaves from the stems and finely chop them before adding to the onion. Continue cooking for 5 minutes, then drain and stir in the beans.
Heat the stock in a saucepan and stir into the onions and beans, add salt and pepper, then bring to the boil. Lower the heat and leave to simmer for 15 minutes.
Using a blender or food processor, blend the soup until smooth. (It is important not to overfill the blender jug, so I do this in two or three batches.) Return the soup to the saucepan and set aside.
Make the breadcrumb mixture: melt the butter in a shallow pan over a moderate heat, then add the crumbs and let them cook for 8 minutes or so, until golden, stirring them every now and again so they colour evenly.
Scatter the almonds among the crumbs, continue cooking, then stir in the parsley and grated lemon zest. Ladle the soup into deep bowls, then scatter the almond and parsley crumbs over the surface.
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