Sautéed String Beans with Shallots
Small string beans cooked in boiling water until still crisp but tender are sautéed at the last moment with shallot in butter and olive oil and seasoned with salt and pepper.
Serves 3 to 4
Ingredients
- 8 ounces small string beans
- Fine sea salt
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 shallot, sliced or minced
- Freshly ground black pepper
Method
- Peel the string beans, removing the stalk end and any string, as needed.
- Bring a large saucepan of water to a boil. Add salt and drop in the beans; cover and bring back to a boil. Cook until tender, 4 to 8 minutes depending on the size of the beans and your preference. Drain. At this point, you can continue or allow the beans to cool, if making ahead. For a small batch it isn’t necessary to drop the beans in ice water, but you can run them under cold water to stop the cooking.
- Heat the butter and oil in a medium sauté pan over high heat. Add the shallot and cook, stirring until softened, about 1 minute. Add the drained beans, season with salt and pepper and continue to cook, stirring, until heated through. Serve immediately.
Notes
I love string beans, especially the small ones called haricot vert in France, which are especially tiny. One of the mistakes that many chefs have made in the last few years is to not cook string beans enough. We used to cook them too long, but now people blanch them for 30 seconds which, for me, is not enough. Of course, you should cook according to your taste, but in this instance, I cook the string beans in boiling water for 4 to 8 minutes, depending on their size, until they are still crisp, but tender, and with the taste string beans should have. They can be cooked ahead and then simply sautéed with shallot at the last moment.
