Italian Beans and Greens

This Italian beans and greens recipe is made with garden fresh Swiss chard greens and cannellini beans. Perfect as an appetizer with crusty Italian bread or a side dish.

Beans and greens are a dish we've ordered as an appetizer at many Italian restaurants. Often it is served with sliced baguette bread. The first time I had it, I could not believe the flavor. It tasted so good I could have eaten it for my entire meal.

One thing I didn't know, bean and greens or greens and beans, is actually a Pittsburgh thing. I came upon this recently in an article on Bon Appétit, where they talk about this dish having Southern Italian origins. Since many immigrants came to the Steel City from Italy, it's no wonder they brought the deliciousness of beans and greens with them.

I saw this huge bunch of red Swiss chard in the market at a local farm. It was so big and beautiful, I had to buy it and make some beans and greens. This time we ate it as a side dish with salmon.

Making Beans and Greens

After washing the leaves, you can easily remove the stems by folding them in half lengthwise and slicing down the stem.

Toss the stems in the compost or save them to make vegetable stock.

The leaves can then be roughly chopped and sautéed in a large pan.

As you might imagine, there are many ways to make this dish. Using beans from a can is probably sacrilege for some Italians, but in my opinion, they work just fine. You can use different kinds of greens, different beans, and different add-ins like pepper flakes and cheese. 

They all work really well. However, when you are able to buy lovely, freshly picked greens from the farm, the choice is a no-brainer.