Sautéed Green Beans and Potatoes, Walloon Style

This is a recipe from my part of the world - walloon country, the French-speaking portion of Belgium (some 4 million people out of a total 10 - the rest speak Flemish).

Traditionally, this recipe uses bacon, frying it in a pan first until it's crisp. Those who follow me know I rarely if ever use bacon (too fat) and instead replace it with strips of ham, usually the smoked variety (Speck will do very nicely), and fry it in a teflon-coated pan (no butter or oil added!) until crisp.

This is a wonderful recipe that can serve as a main dish if you're in the mood for a fast, light meal and it's especially nice on rainy days. Just looking at it lifts the spirits! Incidentally, the picture above was taken by none other than...little me (after I'd eaten half my portion! It was so good it took me a while to remember to take a photo...)

Here's the recipe for 4 people.

Ingredients


500 g (approx one pound) of green beans, cleaned (strings pulled off please!) and cut in half if very long;
300g  potatoes peeled and cut in sticks like for French fries
1 cup cream (or what I do here in Italy: Mascarpone with a little milk to make it creamy)
200 g smoked ham cut in strips and pan-fried until crisp
Pepper and salt to taste (careful with the salt: the ham will probably give the dish enough salt as is)

Method


1. First cook the vegetables. You can do this using steam - that's what I do, I prefer steaming to boiling in salt water, I think it maintains better the taste of vegetables, but it really is up to you - whatever you're most comfortable doing. The main thing though is NOT to overcook the vegetables - the potatoes, sure, they need to be tender but shouldn't fall apart. And the green beans can even be a little crisp, they will resist better the next step in the recipe, which is pan frying.

2. Now quick-fry all the ingredients - green beans, potatoes and crisp ham (or bacon) - in a pan. A wok will do nicely or any pan that looks nice and that you can bring to the table: the warmer the dish is served, the better it will taste.

3. Once the vegetables are nice and warm, add the cream (or Mascarpone and milk), stir and serve. Finish off with freshly-grounded pepper for extra taste.

Yummy! And so simple to do...

Penne Treviso-style plus a Belgian Variation

This is a typical (and very easy) recipe from Treviso sent to me by a Facebook friend who lives in that town, in the north of Italy. Treviso is the cradle of "radicchio", a slightly bitter vegetable  that, in spite of its red colour, is very close in taste to the Belgian endive. Which is why I'm going to give you both versions: the original Treviso one and my (Belgian) variation on it. But there are lots of other ways to use radicchio, and here is a useful link to give you some ideas:
radicchio.net/ricette

Ingredients 
- Pasta, any "hard" kind (meaning done without eggs), like spaghetti or  penne, about 80g/person  (if the commercial dried variety) or 100g if you use home-made fresh pasta; the rest of the ingredients are given for 4 persons:
- 50 g bacon (not the smoked variety - really lard) cut in very thin slices;
- 100 g of radicchio di Treviso, also cut in thin slices;
- garlic (optional)
- olive oil, a small table spoon
- ground pepper as desired

Method
In a pan, fry the garlic (a small piece if you use it) in a little olive oil and once it has browned, throw it away. Continue with the same pan using this oil  to fry the bacon for about 2 minutes.  Then add the radicchio and cover with a lid, lowering the flame and cooking for about 10 minutes or so, until the vegetable has become tender.
It's done! Now you cook the pasta as usual, remembering to set aside a cup of the cooking water once you've strained the pasta - because you'll use some of that water, as needed, when you turn the pasta in your pan-fried vegetables and warm them up quickly before serving. At the last minute, add a little fresh olive oil in it and a sprinkle of grated Parmisan cheese. Serve with more grated cheese on the side.

Now for my Belgian variation:
- replace the radicchio with a couple of Belgian endives sliced thin

- the bacon can be replaced with smoked ham also cut in thin slices and dried in the pan without oil, so the slices become slightly crisp. Then proceed with cooking the endives, as before, on a slow fire with a lid. If it looks dry to you, add a little water so it won't burn.
- at the end, when you turn the pasta in the pan, add the cooking water as needed and a pat of fresh butter.

Serve with cheese as before.