Magic Beans Maccù

In the market the other day, there was a woman selling onions, shallots and colorful beans. Displayed in a wooden box, the beans looked like sorcerer’s tokens, each small, round and smooth, speckled with black and lavender.

As soon as I went up to inquire what they were and how much they cost, the vendor told me that another customer had just purchased them. Alas! Snatched right out of my hands! For the next few days, I scouted the market for that woman and her beans, but it seemed as though she had disappeared, and that those legumes were but a mirage. I found her again on a Thursday, the very day I was hosting my first dinner party. I pounced on this opportunity and purchased all the beans that she had; it was a little over a kilo. I had no idea what they were, and when I sought clarification, she told me what I already knew: these were called fizol, meaning, quite simply, beans in Slovene. Since I did not know what exactly they were, I figured I had creative leeway in how I would go about preparing them. In Sicily, I had eaten a hearty, peasant fava bean and fennel soup called maccù, that I thought would be a worthy recipe for my mottled beans.

You can recreate this dish using dried fizol, however, you would need to soak them over night so that they hydrate and cook faster the next day.

Ingredients:

½ kilo fresh, shelled beans

1 mid-sized fresh, young fennel bulb (with the fronds)

½ tsp. of chili powder or peperoncino flakes

3 cups of water

olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

1) Wash the fennel bulb, and remove any wilted outer layers.

2) Chop the bulb into slices about ¼ of an inch thick.

3) In a pot, pour in a thin layer of olive oil and allow it to heat up over a medium flame. When the oil is hot, add in the fennel. Allow the fennel to cook for about seven minutes, until they slices are slightly translucent.

4) Then push the fennel to one side of the pot, and pour a bit of oil into the open space. Once that spot of oil has heated up, toss in the chili powder and allow it to fry for about one minute. Then mix it with the fennel, so that each piece is evenly coated with the spice. This technique of allowing the chili to fry on its own before mixing it with the other ingredients brings out the flavor of the chili, giving it depth and complexity.

5) Allow the fennel and chili too cook for about eight minutes, stirring frequently so that the fennel does not burn.

6) Wash the beans, and drop them into the pot.

7) Add in the water, and salt according to taste. If the fennel bulb you are using is a bit old and has a weak scent, you may want to incorporate the fennel fronds to enhance the flavor. Just wash some of the fennel fronds and toss them into the soup.

8) Since the beans are fresh, the soup only requires about an hour to an hour and a half to cook. The soup will start out clear, as seen in the photo above, and darken as it cooks and the beans begin to soften. You want some of the beans to loose shape and disintegrate giving the soup a smooth and starchy texture.

9) If you have used fennel fronds, you may want to fish out the stems to enhance the texture and appearance of the soup.

10) Serve with thin julienned slices of fresh fennel, a grating of fresh pepper, and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, or a drizzle of chili oil, which is prepared by frying chili powder in olive oil for half a minute. The chili oil adds a splash of vibrant red color to the soup, and an additional kick.