When I shopped at Ocado and saw these borlotti beans on flash sale, I couldn’t help but immediately add them to the basket. It’s so beautiful and rarely seen!
These borlotti beans were from an online farmers’ market called Natoora, where they also supply seasonal fresh produce to restaurants and they have a partnership with Ocado as well.
Borlotti beans, a fabulous Italian bean that has a pinkish purple pod with pink dots on a white skinned bean. It’s a relative to the kidney beans family, very similar to pinto beans with slightly different colours.
You have to take out the beans from the pod since the pod is not edible. It’s very easy to take out the beans. Just press slightly on the side and the pod will open!
I bought 400 g of borlotti beans and got the net weight of the beans as 200 g.
Rinse the beans and they’re ready to be cooked.
I pressured cooked the fresh borlotti beans in salted water at high pressure for 10 mins, then released pressure naturally. Some people cook them in a pot for 40 mins, some even bake them in an oven for more than 3 hours, but I find that is not necessary.
Just like kidney beans, borlotti beans are great in stews, soups and salads.
If you can’t find borlotti beans, I think kidney beans are a great substitute (more budget-friendly as well). They have similar flavours and they are both able to thicken the soup. If you blind-fold me, I don’t think I can tell the difference between them.
Today, I cooked the borlotti beans with simple ingredients – sausages, potatoes, carrots, mushroom and green pepper, served with bread. It’s a hearty meal which is packed with nutrients and very satisfying.
Ingredients
Serves: 2
- 400 g fresh borlotti beans
- 5 pork sausages
- 200 g potatoes, chunked
- 1 carrot, chunked
- 1 green pepper, diced
- 1 red onion, sliced
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 tbsp fresh lime/lemon juice
- salt and pepper to taste
How to Make Borlotti Beans and Sausages Stew with Basic Ingredients
- Take out the beans from the pods and rinse. In my case, I got 200 g net weight of beans out of 400 g with pods.
- Place the beans in a pressure cooker, add 600 ml water and 1 tsp salt. Cook at high pressure for 10 mins, then release pressure naturally.
- Meanwhile, in a big pot, heat around 2 tbsp oil and sautéed onions, garlic until the onions are slightly browned. Then add the sausages to brown.
- Also add the potatoes and carrots, season with a pinch of salt and black pepper. Let them cook for a few minutes.
- Add the green peppers, cooked borlotti beans together with the broth and tomato paste, mix well and bring to the boil. Simmer for another 10 mins. Finally, freshly squeeze in some lime/lemon juice. Enjoy with bread, couscous, quinoa, rice or short pasta.
More Easy and Hearty Stew Recipes
- Hungarian Style Sausage Goulash
- 【Vegan】Kidney Beans and Butternut Squash Stew
- 【One Pot】Smoky Paprika Sausage and Lentils Stew
