Over the Moon – Beans

• Butter Beans – Phaseolus lunatus – are also known as Lima beans  as they originally came from Peru and Lima is the capital city.
• Phaseolus lunatus – means beans shaped like a crescent moon.
• The Polish name –  Fasola pȯłksiężycowata  – also means beans shaped like a crescent moon.
• This is a very old recipe for butter beans.
• The dried beans would have been soaked overnight before being boiled till soft and then used to make this dish.
• Nowadays you can use tinned butter beans to quickly make this delicious dish.

The recipe calls for a large amount of butter – do not skimp on this!

Ingredients

• 2 tins of butter beans, drained
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 125g of butter
• Large handful of fresh flat leaved parsley – chopped
• Salt to taste

Method

• Melt the butter gently in a large deep frying pan.
• Gently fry the onions till soft and golden – do not brown.
• Add the butter beans and simmer, stirring occasionally till they are soft.
• Use a potato masher to lightly break up the beans.
• Add some of the parsley and stir.
• Serve with the rest of the parsley sprinkled on top.

Served in a dish by J&G Meakin – Cadiz – 1964 – 1970