Insalata di Fagioli alla Romana - Roman-Style Bean Salad

This is how to make a delicious, Roman-style, bean salad - Insalata di Fagioli alla Romana. It’s a hearty, home-cooked dish but you’ll often find it served in local restaurants too. Like all rustic recipes, it involves very little preparation and just a few simple ingredients, but you need to make sure they’re the best quality. And if you don’t like anchovies or want to make it vegan, you can just use sun-dried tomatoes for the dressing instead or even a few tsp of capers.

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Serves 2

Ingredients

• 200g tin borlotti beans
• 200g tin cannellini beans  
• 5 anchovies or 3 sun-dried tomatoes in oil or a few tsp of capers 
• 1 small red onion 
• 1 garlic clove
• 3 tbsp red wine vinegar 
• 3 sprigs of fresh thyme
• 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• Freshly ground black pepper 
• Small pinch of sea salt

Method

1. Slice a red onion as fine as you can. Transfer it to a bowl and  add a small pinch of salt and the red wine vinegar. Use your hands to mix it together so that all the onions are coated with the salt and vinegar mixture. Leave this to one side to pickle. 
2. Meanwhile make the dressing. Pick the thyme leaves and discard the stalks. Finely chop the garlic and anchovies. Now bring this three ingredients in the middle of your chopping board and chop them all together as fine as you can. Now use the back of the knife as if it was a spatula to press and dragthe ingredients and turn them into a paste. You can also use a blender to do this if you wish. Mix the paste with a the olive oil to make a dressing.
3. Add the beans to the picked onions, followed by the dressing. Mix it well all together. Taste and adjust the seasoning. 
4. Serve up and enjoy.

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