Blimey – Blue Beans!

The curly yellow climbing beans called Anellino giallo (I’m not being pretentious, they are Italian and don’t have an English name) have done very well this year, cropping heavily and climbing to great heights.  As a result we haven’t kept up with picking and eating them as fast as we should and, since  the pods have reached the inedible stage, I thought I might treat them like borlotti, shell them and eat them fresh. What a surprise to discover that the beans are a beautiful royal blue.  I was pretty sure they wouldn’t remain that colour when cooked and sure enough after 40 minutes with a shallot and bay leaf, they were an interesting shade of pewter grey. I mixed them with steamed runner beans and stirred in some home made pesto – delicious.