Flat green beans alla Romana

I ponder the same old question in this holiday month: why is it that when you no longer need to rely on buses they're suddenly all over the place? I've done the impossible. I went to the centre (the campidoglio) to get my MIC card and returned home all on the same bus ticket. Bus tickets are valid for 90 minutes. That never happens when I really need a bus, when I have to get to work.
And  the MIC (musei in commune) card, a 5 euro annual museum card for Rome residents, is a great idea, the only one so far that the M5S city administration has had. The Tiber beach, called Tiberis, an idea nicked from Paris, is not such a good idea. Even less so when I read that the local Roma would be in charge of security, though later this was denied by the mayor's office.

I return from my brief errand sweat drenched. When it's so hot heat relief is top of the agenda which means lots of cool drinks, though according to many Italians this is not a wise move as it's bad for the stomach i.e. mega stomach cramping, and large hearty salads, which have to be removed from fridge half an hour before consumption (see above).

A belated discovery was that of large flat Italian green beans, a vegetable I once regarded with suspicion. It wasn't a green bean or a runner bean or a mangetout. It didn't seem to exist in northern climes. It was unwieldy and unattractive and besides how did you cook it?
It turned out to be as easy to deal with as its smaller cousin the green bean. In Rome these big guys are called 'piattoni', literally big flat ones. Throughout Italy they are known as fagioli corallo, which are not coral beans as Google translate suggested. Coral beans are another kettle of fish.

A refreshing Roman speciality is piattoni braised in tomatoes and onions. It's a dish which has the benefits of being low in calories, even better the next day, and even better eaten cold. I like it fridge cold, and ignore the potential threats to digestion.


To make this dish, the fagioli corallo cotto a crudo (flat green beans cooked from raw), take about 500grs of beans. Top and tail them, rinse and cut on the bias in equal size pieces. In a pan put some oil and a finely chopped onion, and if you like some garlic. There is an old wives tale that insists that garlic and onions should not be used in the same dish. Then add tomatoes either open a tin of peeled plum tomatoes or wash, peel, chop some good quality fresh tomatoes, the juicier the better. Mix everything then toss in the prepared beans. Cover and leave to cook for about 40 mins on a low heat as you don't want the tomatoes or onions to burn and stick. You can always add a little water to loosen things up if this should happen, presuming it hasn't happened so catastrophically you need to throw it all away! Once the beans have softened to eatable consistency turn off the burner and let it sit 20 minutes before serving. Add salt, pepper orherbs such as basil or flat pasley, finely chopped.

You may serve the beans as a main dish on their own or with some cold meat or with a fried egg on top or as in the picture with a burrata. It could equally be a side dish, part of several to accompany a piece of meat. Whatever you choose to do with it, remember it's even better cold the next day. It's a perfect refreshing dish for those too hot summer days.