There many so many wonderful chefs that have easy recipes to explore. Among my favorites is Lydia Bastianich.
Her current and archival recipes are always reliable, and I will be posting a few of my favorites in the weeks to follow.
This recipe was created after a trip her daughter had made to Italy. Her daughter had remembered a recipe that had fresh green beans, cherry tomatoes and cubes of fresh mozzarella. Lydia took it one step further and added breadcrumbs and cheese.
Lydia calls this a “gratinate”.
What a wonderful and delicious outcome. Anything with the addition of cheese and breadcrumbs is bound to be successful.
I have met Lydia in person and she is a warm, endearing woman, who enjoys sharing her recipes and cookbooks with people and loves the feedback she gets from them.
Make this recipe. You won’t be sorry! It serves 6 people and is scrumptious!
Ingredients for the Green Bean Gratin
1 1/2 pounds fresh green beans
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
3/4 pound cherry tomatoes (about 3 cups), preferably small cherry tomatoes, cut into halves
1/2 pound fresh mozzarella
4-6 fresh basil leaves, sliced into thin shreds (chiffonade)
1 cup grated Parmigiana-Reggiano
1/2 cup dry bread crumbs (I used 1 cup)
3 tbsp. butter
3 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
Preheat oven to 375.
Arrange a rack in the top half of oven.
Fill a large pot with water and bring to a boil.
Trim both ends of the green beans.
Place the green beans into the boiling water. Cook for 2-3 minutes, until they are bright green and still firm enough to snap.
Drain and place them in a large bowl filled with ice water. Let them sit for a bit to stop cooking process.
Drain the beans again and sprinkle with salt.
Cut the mozzarella into 1/2 cubes.
Toss the grated cheese and breadcrumbs together in a small bowl.
Lightly grease the baking dish with a teaspoon or more of the butter.
Sprinkle 1/4 cup of the cheese-and-bread-crumb mix on the bottom of the baking dish.
Mix together the green beans, tomatoes, cubes of mozzarella and basil slices.
Drizzle all over with olive oil and the remaining 1/4 teaspoon of salt and toss together so green bean mixture is well coated.
Place into the baking dish, scraping up all the crumbs.
Sprinkle over with remaining breadcrumbs, cut the rest of the butter into small pieces, and scatter them all over the top.
Place the dish in the oven.
Bake for 10 minutes, then rotate dish to the front of the oven and bake another 10 minutes.
Check to see if the top is browning and bake for a few minutes more, until the top is dark golden and crusted.
If the crumbs still look pale after 20 minutes, raise the temperature to 400 or 425 and bake until you can see it is done.
Serve the gratinate in the baking dish.
It’s that simple!
