Chef Anthony Susi’s Stewed Bottle Beans
Ingredients
- 1 pound dry white beans (soaked overnight)
- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 large celery stalk (quartered lengthwise)
- 6 cloves garlic
- 1 bunch rosemary
- 4-6 cups chicken stock
- salt, to taste
Directions
- Bring stockpot of water to boil on the stove and let simmer. Pour the chicken stock into a saucepan and bring to a boil.
- Fill two 1-liter glass wine carafes (preferably thick glass) halfway with the beans, add the celery and whole rosemary sprigs and sprinkle with salt. Fill the carafes with more beans and garlic cloves up to the bottom of the bottleneck.
- Divide the extra virgin olive oil into the two bottles and put in the hot chicken stock until the liquid is about two inches above the beans. Cover the top of the bottle tightly with a cheesecloth; if you don't have a cheesecloth, you may use plastic wrap and poke a few holes in it. This will allow some air pressure out, but still trap the heat inside to infuse flavor.
- Place the carafes in the stockpot water bath and let simmer for 45-60 minutes. After this time, uncover one of the bottles and check the tenderness of the beans. You want the beans to be slightly undercooked. Remove the bottles from the water bath and let them cool at room temperature. The heat inside the bottles will finish cooking the beans.
- Serve with your favorite meat or fish or toss with fresh pasta.
