Baccelli

When we heard that a local farmer was willing to bring fresh produce to our village once a week during the lock-down, we were eager to place a weekly order. Everyone is trying to keep trips to supermarkets to a minimum and since fresh produce is difficult to keep fresh for a longer period of time, a good number of villagers are pleased to support this farmer. We send our lists to him via a Whatsapp group one or two days before he arrives and he puts our orders into boxes for us to pick up from him in the village piazza on Wednesday mornings.

One week, our farmer messaged us that he had baccelli. I’d never heard of them. What were they? The word translates into English as pods. Well, that probably meant some kind of bean. As nearly everyone was ordering them, I took my cue from the locals and ordered ½ a kilo. That Wednesday, I walked down to the piazza with my dog and my mask. As usual several other masked villagers were already waiting and, keeping our distance, we exchanged personal news and pleasantries. The bus had just turned around and left when the farmer’s yellow van arrived. While he opened the back doors to his van, two of us grabbed opposite ends of a metal bench and placed it across the back. One by one we were called up collect our crates which were placed on the bench.

Unpacking my produce, I noticed a large handful of fleshy pods. Baccelli. But how does one eat these? What is a good local recipe? I decided to text the question to our village group and immediately got several answers: ‘raw with pecorino (sheep’s cheese)’ or ‘cooked with a little olive oil and some diced ham, if desired’. Simply that. It’s one of the things I love about Italian cooking. The list of ingredients is rarely longer than five items, but it’s the quality of those items that makes the dish. That’s the secret to Italian cuisine.

It was a hot day so I chose to have the baccelli raw. The beans are large and look like lima beans. If you can’t get them (I’m sure they aren’t common fare outside Italy), you could buy fresh peas and prepare a similar salad. No need to cook. I started out with the simple traditional recipe but since I have the incorrigible habit of changing recipes, I added pears, lemon juice and mint. It was delicious and the next week, baccelli were on my list again.

Baccelli Salad

1 kg baccelli (in their pods)
Juice of ½ large lemon
1/8 cup extra virgin olive oil
½ handful fresh mint
¼ cup pecorino (sheep cheese)
1 small pear
Salt and pepper to taste

Shell the baccelli. Quarter and slice the pear. Juice the lemon and pour onto the pear. Chop the mint. Cut the cheese into small cubes. Throw all ingredients in a bowl with the oil and salt, toss, and enjoy.

Serves 3-4.