Italy Recipes – Porcini Mushrooms with Beans ‘al Cartoccio’

Ingredients

For the beans:

– 2 peeled tomatoes
– 8 oz of white beans
– 1 stick of rosemary
– 1 stick of sage
– 1 garlic clove
– pinch of fresh ground black pepper
– pinch of chilli
– salt

For the mushrooms:

– 8 porcini mushroom caps
– 4 large tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil
– 1 stick of ‘nipitella’ (this can be substituted with oregano or marjoram)
– 4 cloves of garlic
– salt & pepper

Method

1.
Place the beans in a large saucepan with plenty of water and allow to simmer for 2 hours along with the peeled tomatoes, sage, rosemary, garlic, pepper and chilli. Add salt once the beans are cooked.

2.
Gently wash the mushroom caps with running water, protecting them with your hands so as to prevent them absorbing too much of the water.

3.
Place the mushrooms on a sheet of aluminium foil on a baking tray. Slice your garlic and gently insert each piece into the mushroom caps, sprinkle the chopped nipitella over the mushrooms and add salt , pepper and a generous dash of olive oil.

4.
Wrap the mushrooms in the aluminium foil, carefully ensuring all the edges are sealed and place on a baking tray in a shallow bath of water. This is now ready to be cooked ‘bain marie’ style for 20 minutes at gas mark 160 C.

5.
Once the mushrooms are cooked, assemble them onto a plate with two large tablespoons of the cooked beans and some small shavings of crusty bread. Drizzle with olive oil and serve the dish piping hot.
Recipe from Fabio Picchi (Chef of CIBREO, Florence)