fagioli alla salvia col miglio / beans with sage and millet

These beans were excellent, an example of minimalist perfection.

I had a hard time coming up with a title for the post: this dish is not really a salad, nor a soup, nor a stew. However, in the end, names are not as important as flavor, which in this case is very interesting.

We start with the beans. I have made this recipe with two kinds of beans from my pantry:

• speckled bayo (photo top and above, recently featured in this soup)
• Paul's mix (photo below and bottom, and also in this photo post)

Both come from Warren Creek Farms, producer of outstanding organic beans.

Print-friendly version of briciole's recipe for Beans with sage and millet

How to cook dry beans
The way I cook beans for further use comes from Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison (Beans with Aromatics). After soaking half a cup of dry beans for several hours or overnight in enough water to cover them by about an inch (I use two cups), empty the whole bowl into a saucepan and add

• Half of a small onion (or a quarter of a medium one), halved
• A bay leaf
• A small clove of garlic, sliced
• A couple of sprigs of fresh parsley

Bring the water to a lively boil quickly, and keep it there for five minutes, then turn down the heat and let the beans simmer, covered, until they are ready. How long this takes depends on the type of beans and their freshness. Let them cool in their broth, then remove the aromatics and discard them. Let the beans rest in their cooking broth until ready to use.

Then we have millet, an ancient grain, which is gluten free. On the right, you see hulled millet in its natural state. On the left, you see the same millet after being toasted. The toasting step takes only a few minutes and it is worth the small effort: toasting gives millet a deeper, earthier flavor.

How to cook millet
For this dish, I used 1/4 cup uncooked millet. Of course, you can cook more and take what you need, saving the rest for another dish. Warm up a skillet on medium heat, then add the millet and toast for a few minutes, stirring constantly to prevent burning. You will hear the millet pop (this is half the fun of toasting grains).

Take millet off the heat and pour into a pan with 1/2 cup water. Bring to a boil and cook, covered, for 15 minutes. Remove from the heat but keep the lid on for another 5 minutes. Add a pinch of sea salt and fluff with a fork.

Putting it all together
Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup beans of choice (for ex., cannellini, canario, speckled bayo), prepared as explained above, plus their cooking liquid
• 1/4 cup hulled millet, prepared as explained above
• 1/2 tablespoon olive oil
• A small onion or a shallot, finely chopped
• A large clove of garlic, thinly sliced (2 if small)
• 3-4 leaves of fresh sage, thinly sliced
• A handful of kale blossoms, optional (but recommended, both as a color and as a texture accent)
• Sea salt and freshly milled black pepper, to taste

You can prepare beans and millet ahead. The final assembly takes a short time, which makes this dish ideal for a quick lunch or dinner (pranzo o cena).

Warm up the olive oil in a saucepan, then add the onion and stir well. After a couple of minutes, add the garlic and sage and stir. After a couple more minutes, add the kale blossoms, if using. Let cook over gentle heat until the onion is translucent. Add the cooked beans with their cooking liquid and bring to a boil. Simmer for a couple of minutes to blend the flavors. Add the cooked millet and stir well. Make sure everything is nice and hot, then adjust salt and pepper, give a good final stir, take the pan off the heat and serve immediately.

This simple dish packs a lot of flavor.

This is my first contribution to Cooking With Seeds: Rye or Millet, an event created by Priya of Priya's Versatile Recipes and hosted this month by Simona of briciole (that is, me).

This post contains the roundup of the event.

This recipes goes also to Jagruti's event Know Your Flours Series: Millet Flour hosted at Torviewtoronto.

The beans make this dish suitable for My Legume Love Affair 50 the current edition of the popular, legume-centered event created by Susan, The Well-Seasoned Cook, and hosted this month by the creator herself.

This post contains the roundup of the event.

 

Click on the button to hear me pronounce the Italian words mentioned in the post:

fagioli alla salvia col miglio

or launch the fagioli alla salvia col miglio audio file [mp3].

[Depending on your set-up, the audio file will be played within the browser or by your mp3 player application. Please, contact me if you encounter any problems.]

beans, millet

Comments

[Laura]

Looks delicious! I need to make it asap as I have lots of millet. I bet it will work with lentils too.

[torviewtoronto]

thank you Simona for linking this delicious meal to the event sent my entry :)

[Nerissa]

Ooh... I think I'd like this dish very much. Love beans. Love millet. Love sage, onions, garlic. Never had kale blossoms, though. Well... don't faint. I've never had any kale. At least I don't think I have.

[Jagruti]

dish looks so healthy...

Jagruti's Cooking Odyssey
Super Foods~Super Power

[roberta cobrizo]

Simona, potresti per cortesia farci avere la tua mail (per Salutiamoci)?
Scrivimi pure a cobrizoperla[chiocciola]gmail[punto]com
Grazie ancora. :-)

[Susan]

Gorgeous beans, Simona. I do wish I could get my hands on kale blossoms. Unless I grow it myself, I am out of luck. (But can't complain much, because I can find zucchini flowers fairly easily.)

I love the idea of toasting the millet. It's very pretty that way. So are the speckled bayo, one of the few which hold their markings, I see. I am not familiar with them yet.

Thank you for sharing this very creative dish for MLLA 50. : )

[Lucia]

I have never tried millet. This looks quite good! And thanks for visiting my blog!

[Simona Carini]

Ciao Laura. Let me know if you try. And yes, I think lentils would also work nicely with millet.

My pleasure, Akheela.

Nerissa, I had never had kale until a few years ago, so I understand. It's easy for me to grow it, which is why I have kale blossoms as well.

Thanks, Jagruti.

Spero che l'email sia arrivata, Roberta.

Hi Susan. It's possible that kale blossoms will become common, the way zucchini blossoms have. In the meantime, you could try using the latter to this soup ;)

Ciao Lucia. It's really nice, so if you find it, I suggest you try it. You are welcome!

[Simona Carini]

I forgot to mention: the beans that hold their markings are called Jacob's cattle and they are part of Paul's mix. Your question made me realize that I had not labeled the photos clearly. The version in the bottom photo was made using Paul's mix.

[Paz]

minimalist perfection, indeed. very nice!

[Simona]

Thank you, Paz!

[Barbara]

I grew up on recipes like this in my Italian Home. To this it is one of my favorite. Broccoil or Broccoli Rabe (the Rabe is my favorite),sauted in Olive Oil with lots of garlic and Beans for protien. Sooo Yummy with Crusty bread for dipping.

[Simona Carini]

I like both broccoli and broccoletti di rape, plus my current favorite: purple sprouting broccoli. Any one of those vegetables can be turned into a great dish. Olive oil and garlic, yes: that's how I made purple sprouting broccoli for dinner — simple and flavorful. Thanks for stopping by :)

[daniel karanja]

Love food with beans