This morning I picked a bag full of fagiolini (green beans) from the orto, “helped” by un corvo (a crow)! He kept hopping around my feet, pulling off beans with his powerful beak then flapping off a couple of meters. I tried to shoo him away with a cane, making sure I didn’t hit him, because I didn’t want to loose too many beans to the greedy creature.

The crow ‘belongs’ to a contadino  who lives in our village and loves adopting wild animals as pets: a few years ago he even made friends with a wild boar, Gigetta, who used to follow him around the village like a dog. Now he’s got two crows, to whom he speaks in corvese (crow language), or so he says.

NO, don’t feed the crows Geoff!

Allora, here’s a nice summer recipe for green beans which you can make even if you don’t have a crow to help you. It’s a very simple recipe, but to be successful you need nice fresh tasty ingredients: juicy ripe tomatoes and sweet green beans.

Rinse the green beans in cold water, top and tail them, and cut them into 3-4 cm length. Wash the tomatoes, cut them into quarters lengthwise and remove the seeds. Peel and slice the garlic. Put the oil with the garlic and the sage in a wide saucepan, and fry for a couple of minutes, but don’t let the garlic go brown. Add the tomatoes, cover with the lid and let cook for about 5 minutes, until the tomatoes start to break down. Add the green beans, stir well, and let them cook gently in the tomato juice for 20-25 minutes.

Half way through check that there is enough liquid, if not add a little water. Add the salt and, if the tomatoes are a bit acidic, a bit of sugar. When the green beans are tender and all the liquid has evaporated turn the heat off, and let it cool down. These beans are nice warm or cold, and taste best when cooked in advance.

I normally make this recipe in a terracotta casserole rather than a steel saucepan, because I find that the final flavour is more “harmonious”!

My next recipe will be Corvo al Forno con Fagiolini