Farinata of Beans and Corn Flour with Casserole of Shrimps

The night before cooking: put white beans to soak in cool water.

Next day, drain the beans and place in a saucepan with water. Simmer gently with carrots, celery, onions and salt until the beans are tender. Purée the beans and their liquid in a food processor (vegetable mill).

Meanwhile, in a soup kettle, gently sauté the bacon (cut thinly) with garlic, sage and rosemary in 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat adding the beans.

Set outside about ½ cup of bean liquid to be added to the soup later in case it’s too dense.

Add tomato paste and cover the pan and cook for 30/35 minutes on a low heat. Season with salt and pepper. Stirring with a wooden spoon, slowly pour in the cornmeal, stirring continously while you pour, and continuing to stir for an additional 10 minutes while the cornmeal cooks, reaching with the spoon all over the bottom of the pan – this is tedious but necessary to prevent lumps from forming in what is essentially a cornmeal porridge.

Serve with shrimps, following the next procedure: in a saucepan gently sautè onion and garlic in olive oil, add the chopped tomato previously boiled and peeled, add the scampi tail and quickly sautè seasonig with salt and pepper.

Courtesy of Il Falconiere