TURKISH STYLE BEANS

This dish is inspired from my time in Turkey where you would eat this dish at room temperature with plenty of good bread! Great for using up those soft tomatoes.

Serves 4

2 Tbsp olive oil

1 onion, sliced thinly

2 cloves garlic, sliced thinly

4 large fresh ripe tomatoes1 red chilli, pricked with fork

1 red chilli, pricked with fork

500g runner, green, French beans, top and tailed

1 sprig fresh basil

Salt and cracked pepper

1 tsp red wine vinegar

Handful fresh flat leaf parsley, roughly chopped

Extra virgin olive oil for drizzling

Good quality bread for serving (optional)

Method

Heat a large heavy-based fry pan up over a moderate heat, add the oil and onions.  Cook the onions until soft and sweet (about 4 minutes), add the garlic, tomatoes and chilli give it a stir and adjust the temperature so that the tomatoes don’t catch too much on the base of the pan.  Once the tomatoes soften and a sauce consistency is appearing add the beans either whole or cut into large pieces.  Season with salt and pepper and poke the basil sprig into the sauce.  Add quarter cup of water and vinegar, cook away until the beans are tender and the sauce thickens and has a lovely glossy appearance this will take at least 20 minutes.

Adjust the seasoning if necessary, add the parsley and cook for another minutes.  Remove from the heat and serve on a platter with some good quality extra virgin olive oil drizzled over and a pile of fresh bread.