Borlotti Beans

By Quarter Sheets

February 18, 2026

This dish is a nod to Italy's family of regional soups called “pancotto” (cooked bread) as well as Jersey City’s most famous bean cooker, Rick Easton who is the owner of the Italophile restaurant Bread & Salt.

Here at QS, braised shelling beans are always on the menu. When winter hits we serve
beans in a flavorful broth that is thickened with a bit of focaccia bread crumbs. At home, the following recipe can serve as an all in one meal or a hearty side dish and comes together quickly provided you have some cooked beans, day old bread, leafy greens and good olive oil on hand.

In this Recipe

Ingredients

Borlotti beans1 cup

Yellow onion1/4 onion

Bay leaves2 leaves

Celery1/2 stalk of celery + leaves

Garlic cloves 4 skin-on, lightly crushed

Salt2 tbsp

Garlic2 thinly sliced

Bean broth1 1/2 cups

Chopped dandelion greens 1 1/2 cups, packed rougly (remove & discard stem ends)

Cooked borlotti beans1 cup

Large bread crumbs from day old bread 1/2 cup, lightly toasted

Zest of half a lemon

Flamingo Estate Olio Nuovo

Pecorino Romano or Parmesan

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Steps

BEAN BROTH
Soak 1 cup beans overnight in 3 cups water.
Preheat oven to 350 F.
Drain and rinse your soaked beans in a colander.
Place soaked beans in a pot with 1 quart of water, 1⁄4 yellow onion, 2 bay leaves, 1/2 stalk of celery + leaves, 4 skin-on, lightly crushed garlic cloves and 2 TSP salt
Bring up to a boil, reduce to a bare simmer, cover with a lid and place in your preheated oven.
Check the beans for doneness at around 30 minutes. Your beans should be mostly intact (some split beans are ok), creamy and cooked throughout with no “bite” (al dente beans aren’t really a thing.) If your beans aren’t quite there yet, place them back into the oven and check in on them at 10 minute intervals. Once your beans are cooked, set them aside to cool.
Remove the onion, bay leaves, celery and garlic from the pot and place beans along with all of the bean broth in a container and hold in the fridge for around a week.
BORLOTTI BEANS WITH “PANCOTTO”
Place garlic, spring onion, a pinch of chili flake, a pinch of salt and a drizzle of olive oil in a sauce pot over medium low heat.
Cook until the vegetables have softened and the chili has bloomed.
Add bean broth, dandelion greens and borlotti beans to the pot and bring to a simmer.
Add bread crumbs to the pot and stir while simmering. After about a minute of stirring and simmering you should see the soup start to thicken into a loose porridge.
As your beans simmer you can adjust the consistency with a splash of water or bean broth.
Remove the pot from the heat and add the zest of half a lemon, squeeze of lemon juice and salt to taste.
Because your bean broth was already seasoned during the bean cooking process it is likely that you won’t need any additional salt.
Place your beans in a bowl and drizzle with a generous amount of Olio Nuovo.
There’s almost no cooking fat involved in this recipe up until this point, so here is your opportunity to lean into indulgence.
On that note, a bit of grated pecorino romano (my preference) or parmesan is a nice finishing touch.