Fried Butterbeans with Feta, Sorrel and Dukkah

So this is the first recipe I tried from Plenty, I borrowed the book from the library and have bookmarked so many recipes I want to try! This I found a little dry but if you had it as a side dish I think that that would be mitigated a little bit. The flavours however were fantastic, there were lots of layers of flavour and it was delightful!

 

Fried Butterbeans with Feta, Sorrel and Dukkah

(Adapted from Plenty - Ottolenghi)

(Serves 4)

450g dried butterbeans

2 tbsp bicarbonate of soda

60g butter

4 tbsp olive oil

8 spring onions, sliced lengthways

1 garlic clove, crushed

200g sorrel, cut into 2cm strips, plus extra thinly sliced

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 tbsp lemon juice

150g feta, broken into pieces

2 tsp Dukkah

handful chervil or dill, chopped

Place the butterbeans in a large bowl and add twice their volume of cold water and the bicarbonate of soda. Leave to soak overnight.

The following day, drain the beans, place in a large pan and cover with plenty of fresh water. Bring to the boil and boil for at least 30 mins, or until soft but not disintegrating. They could take over an hour to cook, depending on size and freshness. Add more water during cooking if necessary. When done, drain.

Next heat some of the butter and oil in a frying pan, add enough beans to cover the bottom and fry over a medium-high heat for 1-2 mins on each side, or until the skin is a nice golden brown and blistered. Remove to a large bowl and continue with batch of butter, oil and beans.

When cooking the final batch, as soon as the beans are almost done, add the spring onions, garlic and sorrel and sate for about a min. Then add the rest if the beans to the pan, remove from the heat and season with salt. Allow the beans to cool.

Drizzle the beans with the lemon juice and scatter over the feta, dukkah, chopped herbs and some thinly sliced sorrel. Finish with a drizzle of olive oil. Serve.