Today we talk about the Verdinas, the most exclusive legumes, which are in full season, we tell you how to cook them and we propose five recipes to get the most out of them.
Verdinas are a variety of small beans that are harvested when the grain is still It is immature and has not yet taken its white color, remaining still green. When dried green, these small green beans maintain their tone and retain an intense plant flavor.
Verdina beans cook very easily, so after cooking, the beans are whole without breaking. As they have very thin skin, they are very pleasant to the touch and being greener they have a very delicate flavor. Because they are ideal to take with fish and shellfish, although they also marry very well with other products as you will see below.
What are the verdinas
Verdinas are a variety of beans or fabas, which are usually planted in the north of Spain, especially in Asturias, from where they have been spreading to Galicia. The production is small, and they are normally sown in the month of May. Harvesting takes place at the end of summer, when the beans are ripe, but the pods are still green.
If the beans were left to dry in the sun, the beans would remain white, and the peculiar green flavor would be lost. -that comes from the sap-, what does this variety have. That is why they are dried in a dark place to preserve their color and go on sale at the beginning of October, when they are ready to be cooked.
Like other varieties of legume, the verdinas are good if the ones of the year are consumed, being those of previous years, less tender, with less color and will probably need more cooking.
Formerly, they were only produced in the Ardisana Valley, in Llanes, although the increase in demand for this product has led to it being grown in more areas.. Its limited production and the low yield of the plant, which does not grow much, makes its price higher than that of other legumes.
Cooking with this seasonal product
The skin of the verdinas is very thin, so when cooked, the skin is practically imperceptible. To cook them, being so fineIt is not necessary to soak them as they are already very soft in themselves, but if they are soaked for a few hours it will not hurt at all and the cooking time necessary for them to be tender is shortened.
Once cooked, its texture is buttery and its flavor is delicate, exquisite and somewhat fruity. For this reason, it is common to use them with fish and seafood recipes and not with the classic compango of fabada to avoid that the power of the smoked sausages and black pudding cover the flavor of this legume.
There are many recipes made with this variety of legume, practically with any type of fish or shellfish, for example vegetables with octopus, with clams, with prawns, with cod and with all kinds of fish. It is also common to use them in recipes with game meat, in recipes with deer or wild boar. Finally, stewed with vegetables or with mushrooms, they are a true delight.
Five recipes with vegetables to get the most out of them
1. Verdinas with boletus
The day before, we soak the vegetables in water to rehydrate. To make this recipe for verdinas with boletus, we are going to braise the legumes in a saucepan with water to cover, a handful of salt, a bay leaf and a quarter of an onion, and we put it on fire until it comes to a boil. Cut the boil three times, adding a splash of cold water each time it boils again.
We let the verdinas be done. While, we clean the boletus with a damp paper napkin and we chop them into good-sized pieces. In a frying pan, we sauté the boletus until they are golden on the outside but keeping them juicy inside. When they are ready, we turn off the fire and reserve.
When the vegetables are almost at their point and we have rectified the salt, we add the boletus to the casserole and let the whole boil for 5 minutes so that the flavors settle and integrate. It is ready to consume, although it improves if it is cooked the day before they are to be eaten, because the flavors of the mushrooms intensify.
Complete recipe | Easy recipe for verdinas with boletus
2. Verdinas with carabineros
- Ingredients: 4 large prawns, 250g of Verdines, 1 clove of garlic, 1 Leek, 1 Red pepper, 1 Carrot, 1 Chives, and fish broth or stock
- Elaboration: The night before preparing this dish, let the vegetables soak to cook them the next morning. When we are going to make this recipe, we chop the leek, the garlic clove, the chives, the carrot and the red pepper into small pieces and we poach them over low heat with olive oil until they are tender. Then add the well drained verdinas and add them to the casserole. Sauté the whole for a couple of minutes and add enough fish stock to cover them and a little more, letting them simmer for about two or two and a half hours, long enough for them to be tender. The ideal is to keep cooking very slowly, adding more water or broth -always cold- if necessary and we will see that we run out of liquid. From time to time we stir carefully and we try until they are at their point. In this way, the vegetables that we have used to make the bottom will dissolve and become part of the broth. For our broth to have a deep and intense seafood flavor, we can use a rock fish broth or homemade broth made with the shells of prawns, prawns, etc. that we have been saving. I always have it in the freezer. As it also had a bit of carabineros or bisque cream, I added it to give these verdinas even more flavor. To finish, we grill the carabineros (a couple of minutes on each side will be enough) and serve them. I usually cut off the head and leave it on the plate on the verdinas so that those who want to can suck their juices and inner corals, and put the tail of the carabinero well peeled and cut lengthwise into two pieces as you can see in the cover photo. I keep the shells, legs, etc. to make future seafood broths.
Complete recipe | Recipe of verdinas with carabineros
3. Verdines with clams and prawns
- Ingredients: 4 garlic, 1 small onion, 1 small tomato, parsley, oil, salt, 1/2 kg of green beans, 300 or 350 gr of clams, 250 g of small prawns, water
- Elaboration: We started by soaking the green beans in cold water the day before. In the morning, we change the water and boil them until they are tender. Afterwards, we drain them and reserve them. Soak the clams in water and salt for at least an hour to release the grit. We peel the prawns and discard the heads and legs, which we can use in another recipe (I freeze them to make broth another day). Peel the garlic and chop them into small pieces. Peel the onion and carve it small. We grate the tomato. In a deep casserole, add a little oil and fry the onion until it is transparent, stirring so that it does not burn. Add the garlic and tomato and leave it all together over low heat. Add the peeled prawns and the drained clams and give a couple of turns with a spoon. Finally, we add the drained green beans. We remove. Cover with water, rectify the salt and let it boil until everything is done. Serve each plate sprinkled with chopped parsley.
Complete recipe | Easy recipe for verdinas with clams and prawns
4. Verdinas with prawns and artichokes
- Ingredients: 500 g of green beans, two leeks, a green pepper, extra virgin olive oil, 300 g of prawn or prawn tails, a glass of white wine, parsley, two cloves of garlic, 2 artichokes
- Elaboration: We soak the vegetables overnight, no less than eight hours. Finely chop two leeks and a green pepper. We discard the soaking water and cook the beans covered with water together with the green pepper and the chopped leek; Add a drizzle of oil and two pinches of salt. We put the fire until it boils and we froth if necessary; We lower the heat and cook for about two hours over low heat. During cooking, we will frighten the beans three times, that is, we will add a splash of cold water to momentarily stop the cooking.Put the two minced garlic cloves in a pan to poach in oil. Without letting the garlic brown, sauté the prawns and add a glass of white wine, salt and chopped parsley. Let it cook for five minutes and remove from heat. When the beans have cooked for an hour, add the garlic shrimp broth to the beans, reserving the shrimp, which we will place on the beans at the last moment. Prepare a deep frying pan with enough oil to fry and heat to maximum temperature. We remove the superficial leaves of the artichokes, turn them and cut them into fine pieces as we see in the image. When the oil is boiling we put the artichokes to fry until they are well browned. We take them out and drain on an absorbent paper and place on the plate of beans. It is important to fry the artichokes at the last minute so that they are crisp.
Complete recipe | Easy recipe for verdinas with prawns and artichokes
5. Stewed vegetables with chorizo and blood sausage
- Ingredients: 500 g of verdinas, 1 red pepper, 1 green pepper, 1 onion, 4 sausages, 4 blood sausages, 1 knee bone, 1 piece of bacon, olive oil and salt
- Elaboration: We soak the vegetables the day before for about 12 hours. The next day we make a background with the vegetables. Chop and sauté in a little oil. Add the previously drained beans, the bone and the bacon. We cover with water. When it starts to boil, cool 3 times by pouring a splash of water in the places where it boils. We remove the foam that comes out and let it cook for about 2 hours or until they are tender. About 30 minutes before finishing we add the sausages and black pudding. Just before the vegetables finish cooking, remove the bones, the bacon and slice the blood sausage and the chorizo. We return to the casserole and serve hot.
Complete recipe | Easy recipe for stewed vegetables with chorizo and blood sausage
Verdinas Image | Tamorlan and Manu Catman