I have a lovely book which I bought in the US years ago called Italy: The Beautiful Cookbook by Lorenza de’ Medici, subtitled Authentic Recipes from the Regions of Italy.

It’s a beautiful book, published for the American market, full of wonderful photos of Italy and pictures of delicious food, but it’s what I would call a coffee-table book – nice to browse through but not one you would necessarily cook from. Anyway, it’s far too big to prop up on the worktop.

I have, on the odd occasion, tried a few of the recipes, one in particular – a thick Tuscan soup called Pasta e fagioli. I have cooked it several times, but apart from the pasta and beans, my recipe bears little resemblance to the original, because I now make it as a main course with either chicken or pork. I’ve tried cutting out the overnight soaking in favour of canned beans, but it just doesn’t have the same depth of flavour and isn’t nearly so nice. I use risoni, the rice-shaped pasta, but any small pasta shapes will work just as well.

Served with a crusty Maltese loaf, it’s good rib-sticking food, perfect for winter.

I have another cookbook which I bought in Spain, also many years ago, written in English by an American woman, not so beautiful (the book, not the lady), but very practical, well-thumbed and grease-spattered. It was my cookery bible when we were living in Spain and an enormous help, particularly when shopping. This one is really full of beans, with loads of bean recipes, both dried and fresh.

Habas are as much loved in Spain as ful (beans) are here. Every town and village market in spring is heaped high with them and every part of the country has its favourite way of cooking them. One of our favourites is habas à la Catalana, or broad beans Catalan style, which is beans cooked with both Catalan white sausage and blood sausage, but I substitute those for Maltese sausages and a loop of smoked pork sausage or frankfurters.

According to yet another of my favourite books, Cooking the Mexican Way by Lourdes Nichols, chilli con carne is not really a Mexican dish, although it does have its origins in Mexico.

Americans, particularly in the southwestern states, have adopted it as their own and hold annual chilli cook-offs where the competition is as fierce as the chilli is hot.

The description of one competitor’s entry as a bowl of fire from hell was something of an understatement. The comparable Mexican recipe, mole, would be made with pork or turkey rather than beef and would include frijoles or refried beans, and the amount of chillies used would make even the most macho Texan cowboy’s eyes water.

My chilli would definitely be considered a wimp’s version, but you can spice it up as much as you like – or as much as you can tolerate. I like it poured over a jacket-baked potato with a big splodge of sour cream; my husband likes it with rice and sour cream; and we both like it with an avocado and tomato salad and either tortilla chips or warm, soft tortillas. I usually make a big potful as it freezes beautifully. You can make it with dried beans, soaked overnight and cooked with the beef, but for this one, canned beans are much more convenient.

And finally, as all the recipes this week are from abroad, we’ll go to Luxembourg where Judd Mat Gaardebou’nen, or smoked gammon with a broad bean stew, is almost the national dish.

It’s supposed to have originated in the village of Gostingen, where the best beans are reputed to grow – and I have published it before, although a long time ago – but it is so good it’s worth repeating, as it makes a lovely Sunday lunch when fresh beans are in season.

Chicken with haricot beans and pasta

(Serves 4)

200g small dried haricot beans, soaked overnight
2 bay leaves
4 whole garlic cloves
Small handful fresh sage sprigs
Olive oil
1 large onion, 2 large carrots and 2 celery sticks, all diced
150g pack Italian pancetta lardons
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tbsp chopped fresh sage
Salt and pepper
800ml chicken stock
120g risoni or other small pasta shapes
4 chicken breast halves
1 tsp dried sage

Drain the beans, put them in a pan, cover with water and boil for 10 minutes, then drain again. Pour in enough fresh water to cover by five centimetres, and add the bay leaves, whole garlic cloves and sprigs of sage. Bring to the boil, lower the heat, cover the pan and simmer for 60 to 90 minutes, or until the beans are tender.

Heat two tablespoons of oil in a large pan and fry the onion and pancetta until the onion starts to soften. Add the carrots, celery, crushed garlic and chopped sage, season well with salt and pepper, cover the pan, lower the heat and fry gently for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Drain the beans and discard the flavourings. Add the beans to the vegetables, pour in the chicken stock and simmer for 10 minutes more. Bring to the boil, add the pasta and cook until its just tender, adding a touch more stock if it looks too dry.

While the vegetables and pasta are cooking, brush the chicken with olive oil and sprinkle with salt, pepper and the dried sage, rubbing it on well.

Grill or fry the chicken on medium heat, turning occasionally, until it’s cooked through. Ladle the beans into warm bowls, top each with a chicken breast and serve with some crusty Maltese bread.

Habas à la Catalana

(Serves 4)

150g piece streaky bacon, rind removed
4 medium Maltese sausages, about 400g
2 tbsps olive oil
1 large onion, peeled and cut into thin wedges
1 large carrot, thinly sliced
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1.5kg broad beans, shelled
60ml medium dry sherry or dry vermouth
Vegetable stock
1 tbsp chopped fresh mint
Salt and ground black pepper
2 large sprigs fresh rosemary
250g loop smoked pork sausage or 4 large frankfurters

Cut the streaky bacon into eight chunks and twist the Maltese sausages in half, then snip them through to make eight small sausages.

Heat the oil in a large pan, add the sausages and bacon and cook until brown all over. Transfer the sausages to a plate and add the onion, carrot and garlic to the pan, cooking until the onion starts to soften.

Add the beans and sherry or vermouth, then pour in enough vegetable stock to just cover. Stir in the mint, season well with salt and pepper and return the sausages to the pan and sit the rosemary sprigs on top.

Bring to the boil, cover the pan and simmer for 15 minutes, then cut the smoked sausage into chunks and stir them in. Continue to cook for another 10 to 15 minutes or until the beans are tender. If using frankfurters, cut each one into four and add them to the pan when the beans are almost done.

Taste and season as necessary, then ladle into warm bowls and serve with boiled potatoes or just some good crusty bread.

Smoked gammon with broad beans

(Serves 4)

1.5kg uncooked smoked gammon
2 carrots, 2 sticks of celery and 2 medium onions
A few parsley stalks, thyme sprigs and 2 bay leaves, tied together
1 tsp whole black peppercorns
50g butter
1 large onion, peeled and chopped
6 rashers streaky bacon, rinds removed and roughly chopped
1 tbsp flour
500ml vegetable stock
2kg fresh broad beans, shelled
Salt and pepper
1 tbsp each chopped parsley and mint
4 tbsps cream

Soak the gammon in cold water for a couple of hours before cooking, then drain and rinse it and put it in a large saucepan and cover with fresh, cold water. Bring to the boil and skim off any scum that rises. Peel and cut the carrots, celery and onions into large chunks and add to the pan, together with the bundle of herbs and the peppercorns.

Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat, cover the pan and simmer very gently for about 90 minutes.

Melt the butter in a large pan, add the chopped onion and bacon and cook until soft. Stir in the flour and stock, then add the beans and season with salt and pepper. Bring to the boil, lower the heat and cook until the beans are tender.

Stir in the parsley, mint and cream, taste and season as necessary, then pour the beans into a shallow serving dish.

Carve the gammon into thick slices, lay them on top of the beans and serve with plain, boiled potatoes.

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