Ingredients (Serves 4)

For cooking the fagiolina

• 1 cup / 6.5 ounces / 185 g fagiolina del Lago Trasimeno (either variety or a mix)
• 2.5 cups / 600 ml water
• 1 small onion, quartered
• 1 garlic clove, halved
• A bay leaf
• A handful of parsley stems
• A 2-inch / 5 cm piece of kombu (optional)
• 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt

For the dish

• 6.5 ounces / 185 g leek, white and light green portion, clean weight
• 1 tablespoon / 15 ml extra-virgin olive oil
• Leaves of a good handful of thyme sprigs
• Fine sea salt, to taste
• A pinch of freshly ground black pepper
• Extra-virgin olive oil

Instructions

How to cook fagiolina

Rinse the fagiolina. Warm up the water in a saucepan. Add fagiolina and all the aromatics (minus the salt) to the warm water. Stir, cover and bring to a boil. Turn down the heat and let the fagiolina simmer, covered, until it is tender. After 30 minutes, add salt and stir. Taste fagiolina after 35 minutes and estimate how much longer it should cook.

Let the fagiolina cool in the broth, then remove the aromatics and discard them.

How to finish the dish

Cut the leek(s) in half lengthwise and slice into 1/8 inch / 3 mm half-moons. Rinse well in a colander.

Warm up the olive oil in a frying pan and add leeks. Stir to coat, then add thyme leaves and stir again. Cook on gentle heat for 10 minutes, stirring often. Cover and cook for 10 minutes, stirring a few times. Uncover and continue cooking for another 10 minutes until the leeks are quite tender. Make sure the pan is never dry. Sprinkle a pinch of salt and the black pepper and stir.

Drain the fagiolina, leaving it slightly moist and place in a serving bowl. Add the cooked leeks and stir well. Adjust salt. Serve warm or at room temperature. After plating, drizzle some extra-virgin olive oil on the fagiolina.

Go to the full post on fagiolina del Lago Trasimeno ai porri / cowpea of Lake Trasimeno with leeks