Serves 10
1230 min
Fried Beans with Feta, Sorrel, and Sumac
Recipe GLPR6977effa8897c2
A vibrant Mediterranean-inspired main featuring crispy pan-fried white beans tossed with fresh sorrel, spring onions, and tangy feta cheese, finished with bright citrus and earthy sumac. Beans are cooked until tender, then seared until golden and blistered, combined with wilted greens, and dressed with lemon juice, herbs, and crumbled cheese for a satisfying vegetarian dish.
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Ingredients
1 pound large dried white beans
pinch of baking soda (optional, for hard water areas)
8 spring onions or scallions, cut lengthwise into 3-inch batons
1 clove garlic, peeled and minced
7 ounces fresh sorrel, cut into 1-inch ribbons (plus extra thin strips for garnish)
1/2 teaspoon sea salt, plus more for seasoning
1 1/2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
5 ounces feta cheese
2 teaspoons sumac
handful of fresh herbs (such as chervil, dill, mint, or flat-leaf parsley), roughly chopped
1/4 cup olive oil
4 tablespoons butter
Directions
Rinse the dried white beans thoroughly under cold water, picking through them to remove any small stones or debris.
Place the cleaned beans in a large pot and cover generously with cold water. Let soak overnight at room temperature.
The next day, if you live in a hard water area, add a pinch of baking soda to the pot. Bring the beans to a simmer over medium-high heat. Cook gently until the beans are just tender, 30 minutes to over an hour depending on the bean variety and age. Add more water as needed to keep the beans covered. Once tender, drain well.
Toss the drained beans with a small amount of the olive oil and a pinch of salt. This coating will help prevent the bean skins from flaking off during frying.
Heat a portion of the butter and oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Once the mixture is hot, add enough beans to form a single layer in the pan without crowding.
Let the beans cook undisturbed for a few minutes until they develop a golden brown crust on the bottom. Stir and turn the beans over, then continue cooking for another few minutes until all sides are seared and blistered. Transfer the cooked beans to a bowl and repeat with the remaining beans and additional butter and oil as needed.
For the final batch of beans, during the last minute of cooking, add the spring onion batons, minced garlic, and sorrel ribbons to the pan. Stir gently and cook for about 1 minute until the greens are just wilted. Remove the pan from heat, add the previously cooked beans back to the pan, and stir gently to combine. Sprinkle with the 1/2 teaspoon sea salt and let the mixture cool to room temperature or until just warm.
Once cooled, drizzle the lemon juice over the beans and sprinkle the sumac throughout. Roughly chop the fresh herbs and stir them in gently. Transfer to a serving dish, crumble the feta cheese over the top, garnish with the thin sorrel strips if desired, and serve.
