Borlotti bean bruschetta

I grew some Italian borlotti beans this summer! Aren't they pretty, all speckled with pink? They're super easy to grow, high in fiber and delicious. These beans are also known as cranberry beans or French beans. They are shelling beans, and excellent in soups, salads or on their own.

The Italians know a thing or two about cooking beans and I found a good Tuscan bean recipe in Bon Appetit mag to cook these fresh borlotti beans. Once they have cooked this way they lose their beautiful pink specks but gain an incredibly creamy texture and rich flavors. 

The beans are simmered in olive oil along with garlic cloves, tomatoes and sage leaves. The cooked beans are good to eat on their own, scooped out of the oil, but I put them on a toasted piece of ciabatta bread to make borlotti bean bruschettas. (The word bruscchetta is from the Italian word bruscare, which means to char.) I topped them with fried sage leaves and roasted mini plum tomatoes. Don't toss the garlic oil... it can be used to drizzle on other things too... pastas perhaps?

Below is what the beans look like 

after an hour or so in a 350° oven... 

not as pretty, but mighty tasty!