Yellow wax bean stew
A simple stew of yellow wax beans with onion, garlic added in two stages and tomato purée. Works equally well with fresh or frozen beans.
About this recipe
Yellow wax beans taste sweeter and fuller than green beans. Green beans will work here, but it isn't the same dish — in a stew where the bean is the main ingredient, the difference shows.
The season is short. When you find them fresh and stringless, buy more than you need and freeze the rest. Frozen ones are sold in shops too, but they cost more than frozen green beans. The same beans also make an excellent soup.
The recipe itself is straightforward: onion, garlic, beans, water and, optionally, tomato purée. The only thing that changes between fresh and frozen beans is the cooking time.
Ingredients
- 2 kg yellow wax beans, fresh or frozen
- 2 fresh chillies, finely chopped — optional
- Hot water, enough to come almost level with the beans
- 2 large onions, chopped
- 6 large garlic cloves, sliced or chopped
- A further 6 garlic cloves, crushed
- 1 tsp chilli flakes — optional
- Salt — about 1% of the weight of the beans (roughly 2 level tsp for 2 kg), plus adjustment at the end
- Sunflower oil, enough to cover the base of the pot in a thin layer
- 3 tbsp tomato purée, or 1-2 tins of passata (400 g each) — optional
- 2 tsp dried thyme — optional
Method
1. Prepare the beans (10-15 min)
Fresh: wash them, trim the stem ends and snap or cut the pods into 2-3 cm pieces.
Frozen: run them through 2-3 changes of hot water until the pods separate from each other and turn flexible. Drain well.
2. Soften the onion (8-10 min)
Heat the oil in a wide pot over medium heat. Once it gives off a light wisp of smoke, add the chopped onion. Cook for 8-10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until translucent and just starting to colour.
3. First lot of garlic (1 min)
Add the 6 sliced cloves and stir for one minute only. Garlic burns quickly and turns bitter. If you want the dish hot, the chilli flakes go in here too.
4. Add the beans and water
Tip the beans into the pot and stir to coat them. Pour in hot water until it comes almost level with the beans — not over them, as the beans release plenty of liquid as they cook. Add the salt.
5. Simmer (40-60 min)
Fresh beans: 30 minutes covered or partly uncovered over medium heat, then a further 30 minutes uncovered so the sauce reduces.
Frozen beans: 20 minutes covered, then 20 minutes uncovered.
Stir every 10 minutes so nothing catches on the base. By the end the beans should be soft but still holding their shape, and the liquid reduced to a sauce that clings.
6. Tomato purée or passata (optional)
Stir in 2-3 tbsp of tomato purée — it dissolves into the sauce and deepens the colour.
If you use passata instead, pour in 1-2 tins and allow a further 10 minutes of simmering on top of the times above, so it loses its raw taste.
7. Second lot of garlic and the thyme (10-15 min)
Add the crushed garlic, the chopped fresh chilli and the dried thyme. Simmer uncovered for another 10-15 minutes over low heat.
Taste and adjust the salt. Take the pot off the heat.
Notes and tips
Why the garlic goes in twice
The garlic cooked at the start melts into the base and gives the sauce sweetness and depth. The crushed garlic added at the end stays sharp and reads clearly on the palate. All of it at the start and the dish tastes flat; all of it at the end and it's aggressive. Split, it works.
How much water
The water should not cover the beans. The pods release a lot of liquid as they cook, and if you start with too much you'll spend an extra 20 minutes just reducing the sauce. Better to top up with a little hot water later if you need to.
Freezing fresh beans
Wash them, trim the stem ends and snap them into pieces. Blanch for 2-3 minutes in boiling water, then transfer straight into iced water to stop the cooking. Drain well, dry on kitchen paper and freeze in portioned bags. Blanching preserves the colour and texture through the winter.
Making it hot
Two different points, two different effects. Chilli flakes added to the softened onion melt into the base and give a rounded, even heat that runs through the whole sauce. Fresh chilli added at the end with the crushed garlic stays sharp and hits in bursts. Both together is the way to go if you like your food properly hot.
The next day
As with most stews, the flavour settles overnight. Reheat gently over low heat, with a few spoonfuls of water if the sauce has tightened too much.
Serving
Warm, with good bread for the sauce.
Original: with fried eggs on top — the broken yolk runs into the sauce, and it's the classic pairing.
Vegan: thick slices of firm tofu, pressed for 15 minutes under a weight between two layers of kitchen paper, then fried hard on both sides until browned and crusted. Salt them after frying. Alternatively, new potatoes boiled and then pan-fried with a little garlic — no substitute for the egg, but the sauce takes to them well.