Flat Italian Green Beans in Sauce (Fagiolini Piattoni al sugo)
School got out at 3 PM, and by 3:30 PM, I was at my Nonna Santa and Nono Loui’s home.
My Nonno Louis had picked me up and for dinner and time at the playground just one house away.
We lived close by so this made after school dinners possible.
I sat and watched my Nonna Santa create fagiolini Piattoni al Sugo or Italian Flat Green Beans in the sauce.
You might think ew or if you love green beans, you will say, ‘ahhhh!’
The latter is the right expression for those veggie-lovers.
A tantalizing vegetable dish guaranteed to make any food lover drool.
Every bite is packed with flavor and the versatility of this dish allows it to present as a side dish or main course.
Italian Flat Green Beans in Sauce will make you swoon, but it’s also the sauce that imparts a richer, deeper flavor.
With all of the beans inbound from gardens, you’ll just have to try this recipe!
Truly, a rich man’s feast at a poor man’s price, that’s what I refer to as Adventure. Eat. DIY. Repeat.!
Italian Flat Green Beans in Sauce
Green Beans.
There are a lot of different green beans and I’m going, to be honest, and share the bean that imparts the best taste for Italian green beans in sauce.
After all, when you are consuming a healthy pile of greens, accompanied with sauce, the taste needs to be defined.
Now, no worries, if you can’t find the beans I am referring to, you can use others.
What you will have to do is play with the recipe a little, probably adding more garlic instead of less.
Additionally, I will always advise in the case of not finding the right bean to impart more flavor using freshly peeled cloves of garlic.
Lovingly made Italian green beans in sauce truly transform the everyday green bean into a feast!
Fresh green beans are so different from store-bought produce green beans.
Farmer’s markets offer some of the best in beans.
Fresh and tasty like they are just off the vine.
Oh, they are just off the vine at farm markets.
Italian Flat Green Beans
Italian FLAT green beans are my choice.
These beauties don’t get squashy and truly hold up to cooking better than any bean I have ever known.
Nonna Santa was particularly fond of these as is my Dad.
Actually, the bean can be referred to as the following: Italian Pole Beans, Green Romano Beans, Romano Green Beans and, Italian Flat Beans.
All names are correct.
These beans are grown on a vine (string beans) and O.M.G. for some reason they attract the Daddy long-leg spiders that scare the bejeebers out of me.
However, that does not stop me from loving them and my dad grows Italian flat beans all the time too!
Bigger, bolder, tastier, with flatter and broader pods.
Italian flat green beans pan saute so well and because they are FLAT, the taste transitions well.
Buy them fresh, wash them, cut the tip off each end and freeze for later when you find them in a market.
Conversely, buy them, wash them, and use in this Italian Flat Green beans with sauce recipe.
Did I mention that I also have found these beans at Trader Joe’s in the frozen section?
Italian Flat green beans are also in cans, but, there is a lot of salt in them and they don’t do as well sauteed.
Make My Really Yummy Tomato Sauce to merge into this bean recipe.
Pan Sauteed or Boiled?
What allows me to transform everyday Italian Flat Green beans in a sauce to a dish blasted with flavor is the preparation mode.
Boiling takes away the true earthy taste that a green bean has.
Sauteed in a pan will send your tastebuds to overdrive.
Sauce clings to the pan sauteed bean (well sauce if made right)so much better than a boiled bean.
Plus, when boiling a bean, it retains some of that water, so you might get a water burst when you bite.
No thanks!
Oil – Olive or?
Because there is no high heat involved in this sauteed veggie dish, you can use extra virgin olive oil.
Or you can use coconut oil (one without the flavor of coconut obviously) and either will turn out well!
Parmesan Cheese Is Everything
I’ve endlessly discussed grating cheese and the use of Parmesan Cheese Rinds.
Being fair, the cheese is going to make or break this dish.
In other words, please don’t use that crap in a shake bottle.
Visit your market for a cube of Parmesan cheese and grate it yourself.
However, if you have purchased a fresh bag of grated parmesan, use that.
Just stay away from those plastic shakers of wood pulp that impart no taste, just junk you don’t need!
Recipe For Italian Green Beans in Sauce (Fagiolini Piattoni al sugo)
Italian Green Beans in Sauce (Fagiolini al sugo)
Ingredients
- 16 Oz Flat Italian Green Beans Romano beans
- 4 Tablespoons Garlic Minced
- 2 Tablespoons Coconut Oil not-flavored or EVOO
- 1/2 C - 3/4 C Just Plain Yummy 5-Ingredient Tomato Sauce
- Freshly Grated Parmesan Cheese
Instructions
- In a large pan, add oil.
- Next, minced garlic on one side of the pan.
- Then add the beans on the other side.
- Allow the garlic to begin to cook and then mix together with the beans.
- Once beans and garlic are combined, cook on medium heat for about 4 minutes, allowing the beans to change color and soften.
- Continue to saute and turn beans until they are a more mellow green (about 10 minutes more)
- Remove from heat.
- Add on my Just Plain Yummy 5-Ingredient Tomato Sauce and top with freshly shaved parmesan cheese.
- Serve warm or room temperature.
- Refrigerate leftovers.