Week 6: Marrow Beans

I took advantage of a delightful snow day to choose one of the beans I ordered from North Bay Trading Company for this week!  I have so many wonderful options in my box, I went with what my hand landed on...Marrow Beans.  Supposedly the fame of this particular bean is it tastes like bacon...I asked my husband if that was true and he said not so much, but they are tasty!

There were no particular recipes I found that spoke to me for Marrow Beans, so I sorted, soaked, and boiled them.  

They start out fairly small...

But plump up after soaking...

And, as expected, even more so after cooking...

Similar to when I made the Christmas Lima Beans in Week 3, I was not entirely certain what I was going to make with them yet, I decided to cook them plainly...after draining them from soaking overnight, I placed them in a pot, covered with a couple inches of water.  Brought them to a boil, then lowered the heat and they simmered ~2 hours, until soft.  I took them off the heat, added ~2 teaspoons of salt and let them sit ~10-15 minutes.  Finally, I drained them (reserving the liquid, as it was quite tasty...no idea what will become of it yet).

After searching the internet for ideas, I went with simple.  It was not amazing, but I have some ideas that will make leftovers better.

Pasta, Marrow Beans & Arugula 

Ingredients:

• 12 oz cooked, drained pasta (I used cavatappi)
• 3 cups cooked, well-drained, Christmas Lima Beans
• 10-12 cloves garlic 
• 1 teaspoon oil
• Zima yellow grape tomatoes 
• 4 oz fresh arugula
• salt, to taste

Procedure:

1. Cook pasta according to instructions on packaging. Set aside.
2. Cook your Marrow Beans, plainly (see above)
3. Peel and thinly slice garlic. 
4. Warm oil in pot.  When warm, add sliced garlic and cook ~2-3 minutes.
5. Add Marrow Beans and cook ~3-5 minutes.
6. Add pasta, arugula and tomatoes.  Cook ~2 minutes.
7. Salt to taste.

Notes:

• Needs lemon juice cooked in...added between point 5 & 6, above.

The beans were good, but not one I feel the need to rush to find again.  I prefer cannellini beans, personally.  But they're a creamier bean than I anticipated they'd be while cooking. 

Have a great week!