Creamy Comte Butterbeans with Green Sauce

Deliciously comforting as a simple midweek supper with a good hunk of bread for scooping or as a fabulously rich side dish for Porchetta. The green sauce adds a bright freshness, and you can mix and match your favourite soft herbs – if you prefer a traditional Italian salsa verde add anchovies, or for a little hit of heat why not try an Argentinian chimichurri?

Serves 2-3 as a main or 3-4 as a side

For the Creamy Beans:

1x Jar of Butterbeans (roughly 600g)

2x shallots, diced

2x cloves of Garlic – grated.

30g of Butter

1/2x lemon (you will want the other plus zest for your green sauce!)

150g Comte, grated – we would recommend an 18 month age profile like our Comte Androuet

50g of Parmigiano or Grana Padano, grated

1x tbsp of cream cheese

200ml Chicken Stock

Salt and Cracked Black Pepper

For the Green Sauce – adjust ratios to preference!:

1x good handful of parsley

1x good handful basil

1x good handful of mint

Zest of a whole lemon plus ½ a lemons’ worth of juice

3x tbsp of Olive Oil

2x tsp of capers

2x tbsp of cornichons

1x clove of garlic

1. Pop all the ingredients for your green sauce into a food processor and blitz until it’s the consistency of a chunky pesto. Taste and adjust seasoning to preference. The sauce needs to pop, so that it cuts through the richness of the cheese laden beans. Pop into a ramekin in the fridge until serving – we love the combination of the cold and vibrant sauce drizzled on the warm and creamy beans.
2. Over a medium to low heat, melt your butter and sweat your diced shallots slowly until soft, allowing the butter to caramelize a little bit, and your garlic in and cook until fragrant.
3. Drain your butterbeans and add to the onions and garlic and stir so that the beans are well coated in the butter.
4. Add you chicken stock and bubble away over the low to medium heat until the stock has reduced by half.
5. Remove from the heat and stir in the cream cheese, and then the Parmigano and half the Comte until well combined and melted. The overall consistency should be a little soupy.
6. Finish by stirring through the juice of half a lemon freshness. Season with Cracked Black Pepper to taste, the cheese used in the recipe means that minimal salt is required but adjust to taste
7. Serve with a good handful of grated Comte and a drizzle of the green sauce.