’n Capriata

Step 1

Each bean should be in its own pot. Cover the cannellini and the favas with cold water, adding 1 tablespoon of coarse sea salt and a branch of sage to each, and bring to a simmer. Cover the pots and permit the beans to soften for 1 hour. Drain the beans, again, each in their own pot, cover them anew with cold water, add another tablespoon of coarse sea salt to each pot and bring the beans to a simmer, poaching them until they are very tender and collapsing. Drain the beans, reserving a cup of their cooking liquids, combine them and set them aside.

Step 2

While the beans are cooking, you can attend to the oil that will eventually perfume them. In a small saucepan over a medium flame, warm 1/2 cup of the olive oil, adding the sage leaves, minced garlic, chile, 2 teaspoons fine sea salt, and fennel, rolling the components about for a minute, taking care that the garlic does not color. Set the perfumed oil aside.

Step 3

In a food processor fitted with a steel blade, process the beans, in batches if necessary, adding a few tablespoonfuls of the cooking liquids to form a thick, smooth paste. Turn the paste out into a large bowl. With a wooden spoon, vigorously beat the perfumed oil into the paste, glossing and scenting it. Last, beat in the cream and the vinegar. Cover the paste with plastic wrap and chill it for several hours or overnight.

Step 4

Wash and trim the rape and place them in a pot, covering them with cold water, adding 1 tablespoon coarse sea salt and poaching them for 3 minutes. Drain the rape very well, transferring them to absorbent paper towels. When the rape are cooled a bit, squeeze each piece, extracting as much water as you can before chopping them coarsely and setting them aside.

Step 5

Just before serving ’n Capriata, warm 1/3 cup of the oil over a lively flame in a sauté pan and sauté the crushed garlic, scenting the oil. Remove the garlic and discard it, add the rape and roll it about in the oil for a minute or two. In another sauté pan over a lively flame, heat the final dose, 1/2 cup, of oil and quickly sauté the bread on each side, giving it a good crust but leaving its interior crumb soft.

Step 6

To present the dish, place two trenchers of the hot bread on a plate with some of the warm sautéed greens and then top the whole with generous spoonfuls of the chilled bean paste. In part, it is the play of the hot, crisp bread against the cold, smooth, lusciously perfumed puree, each of them relieved, fused, by the bitter greens between them, that makes the dish spectacular. More, though, I think it is so good for its unexpectedness.