Winging it

I am not the bravest of cooks. But I also rarely cook exactly to a recipe. My specialty is the 'tweak'. However, sometimes, I get all courageous, spurred on by some fabulous produce, some time on hand (yeah, like that happens often), or the guilt induced by the combination of not having enough time to go shopping, having a heretofore unseen combination of items available in my fridge AND having already subjected the family to take-out twice in the same week. Oh yes, I can do guilt, but sometimes, the plus side of my propensity for self-flagellation bears pretty fabulous results. Last night was one of those occasions, so I'm sharing the resulting culinary creation with you. And I don't mind if you pass it off as your own creation, and deny all knowledge of the recipe written out here. Consider it a gift from me :-)

The instigation for my creative burst were these:

Beautiful, aren't they? And they are called Tongue-of-Fire beans, which makes them even cooler!

Now, not so long ago, before I was used to venturing outside my narrow comfort zone in the vegetable department, I would have left these in the fridge until they were shriveled and foul-smelling before reluctantly throwing them out and promising to do better next time (probably in tandem with some more guilt). However, I'm a bit braver these days, so I thought, what the heck, and concocted the stew below, using pretty much all the things I could find in the fridge. No worries, if you don't happen to find these beautiful beans - you could easily substitute with a can of butterbeans or cannellini beans. Or, you could use raw lentils, in place of the ready cooked ones I used, and use them as the base at the beginning of the recipe, cooking them in the stock, in place of the beans. Go on, be brave!

Pancetta, Chard and Tongue-of-Fire Bean Stew
Serves 5

olive oil
6 oz raw cubed pancetta
1 yellow onion, finely chopped
1 tsp finely chopped fresh rosemary
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups of shelled beans
about 4 cups chicken stock
3 cups chopped red or green chard leaves (discard the stems)
1 cup chopped red bell pepper
1/2 cup julienned sun-dried tomatoes (not the kind packed in oil)
3 TBSP sun-dried tomato pesto
1 cup ready-cooked green lentils
salt and pepper
cooked farro to serve

1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan, then add the onion and pancetta and sauté until pancetta is starting to brown.
2. Add the garlic and rosemary, and cook for 1 minute more.
3. Stir in the beans, and then add sufficient stock to cover the beans, with the level about 1" above the beans.
4. Bring to the boil, and then turn the heat down so that the mixture bubbles lightly - boiling it too vigorously will cause the beans to break apart and become mushy.
5. Continue to simmer, uncovered, until the beans are tender (about 40 minutes).
6. Stir in the chard leaves, sun-dried tomatoes and red bell pepper and cook for 5-10 minutes until the chard is wilted, the sun-dried tomatoes plumping up, and the bell pepper tender.
7. Stir in the pesto and the cooked lentils. Then taste the stew and add salt and pepper to taste if desired.
8. Serve on a bed of cooked farro (or cous-cous, or barley, or rice, or orzo...)