White Bean Salad with Mussels & Chorizos
Serves: 4
Preparation time: about 30 minutes plus overnight soaking if using dried beans
This salad is a perfect dish for picnics and parties. It can be done in advance and tastes even better the next day. Spanish chorizo whips up the white beans taste. If you can't obtain chorizo substitute it for pepperoni salami.
Ingredients:
- 200 gr dried cannellini beans soaked overnight or 500gr (about15 oz) canned cannellini beans
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- 1 medium fennel bulb, cut into 1/2 cm (1/8 inch) strips
- 1 medium (about 1cup) red pepper cut into 1/2 cm (1/8 inch) strips
- 1 medium sized (about 1 cup) green pepper sliced into 1/2 cm (1/8 inch) strips
- 1/2 cup green onions cut into 1/2 cm (1/8 inch) slices
- 2 garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced
- 1 cup Chorizo, cut into 1/2 cm (1/8 inch) slices
- 8-16 cooked mussels, cooled
- 250 ml (1 cup) extra virgin olive oil
- 125 ml (1/2 cup) red vine vinegar
- salt and freshly ground pepper
- 60 gr (about 1/4 cup) fresh coriander or Italian parsley, finely chopped
Preparation:
Using dried beans: Soak beans in a bowl overnight. Next day, drain beans and place them in a large saucepan. Cover beans by a good 3cm (1 inch) of boiling water. Add the small onion, a bay leaf, a parsley twig, 3-4 peppercorns and salt to taste. Cover and simmer beans for 45-60 minutes. Do not overcook them, they should still retain some bite. Drain beans, discard onion, bay leaf, parsley and peppercorns. Run them briefly under cold water. Drain again and set aside to cool.
Using canned beans: Drain them in a colander and rinse them briefly under cold water. Drain again and set aside.
In the meantime, heat olive oil in a skillet. Sauté chorizo briefly, 1-2 minutes. Add onion and sauté until onion just starts to soften. Add garlic, fennel, peppers and sauté 5 minutes longer. Vegetables should still retain some bite. Remove from skillet and set aside to cool.
Mix olive oil, red vinegar, salt and freshly ground pepper into a vinaigrette.
Add cooled beans, the onion, fennel, peppers and chorizo mix into a large bowl. Mix in the vinaigrette and fresh coriander. Let it sit for at least 1 hour to mingle the flavors. If necessary, add more vinaigrette, as beans tend to absorb a lot of liquid.
Just before serving, remix beans again and add the chopped scallions. Arrange the mussels on top and serve at room temperature with a crusty bread.
