Haricots Verts with Hazelnuts and Dill
Haricots Verts with Hazelnuts and Dill
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Servings: 6
Ina Garten says that the late French chef Joël Robuchon was known to say he limited his dishes to no more than three dominant flavors so you would appreciate the intrinsic flavors of a dish. Of course, she’s sure he didn’t mean that literally, because some subtle flavorings simply make other ingredients taste better, but she likes his philosophy. Here she flavors French string beans with toasted hazelnuts and fresh dill, and which she thinks all work really well together.
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup (2 1/2 oz./75 g) whole hazelnuts (see tip below)
- Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
- 1 1/2 lb. (750 g) haricots verts, stem ends removed
- 1 Tbs. unsalted butter
- Good olive oil
- 1/4 cup (1/3 oz./10 g) minced fresh dill
Directions:
- Place the hazelnuts in a large (12-inch/30-cm) sauté pan set over medium heat. Cook for 5 to 10 minutes, rolling them around occasionally, until they are heated through. Transfer the nuts to a clean kitchen towel, fold the towel over and roll them around until some of the skins fall off. (Don’t worry if they don’t all fall off.) Roughly chop the hazelnuts and set aside. Wipe out the pan with a kitchen towel.
- Meanwhile, fill a large pot with 4 quarts (4 l) water, add 1 Tbs. salt and bring to a boil. Plunge the string beans into the water and cook for 5 minutes, until just tender. Drain immediately, plunge into a large bowl of ice water and set aside.
- When ready to serve, heat the butter and 1 Tbs. olive oil in the large sauté pan or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the string beans, 2 tsp. salt and 1 tsp. pepper and cook for 3 minutes, stirring with tongs, until heated through. Off the heat, stir in the dill and hazelnuts and taste for seasonings. Serve hot. Serves 6.
- Tip: When cooking with any kind of nuts, Ina Garten often toasts them before adding them to a recipe because it brings out their flavor and crisps them.
- Reprinted from Cook Like a Pro: Recipes & Tips for Home Cooks. Copyright © 2018 by Ina Garten. Photographs by Quentin Bacon. Published by Clarkson Potter/Publishers, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC.