most vegatables availible July-August

Serves 4-6:

• 2 to 3 pounds fresh shell beans (cannellini, cranberry, pinto, flageolet, etc)
• salt
• 6 tablespoons olive oil
• half an onion
• 4 gloves of garlic
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1 or 2 sage leaves
• optional: 1 small bumch of greens (broccoli raab, chard etc)
• 2 medium tomatoes
• half a cup of toasted bread crumbs

Shell the beans. Yeild will vary accourding to variety, but you want to end up with about 3 cups of fresh shelled beans. Cook them with just enough water to cover by an inch. (Fresh shelled beans absorb very little water). When they have come to the boil, add salt and 2 tablespoons of olive oil, and lower the heat to a simmer. Cook untill the beans are tender, about 30 minutes. If you use more than one kind of bean, cook each kind seperately, since cooking times will vary. Drain the beans and save their liquid.

While the beans are cooking, dice the onion and cook it in 2 table spoons olive oil with the garlic cloves, peel and cut into slithers; the sage leaves chopped; and some salt. Cook over low heat untill soft and translucent. If you wish, cook a small bunch of greens with the onion; add a little of the bean water along with them, if you do. When the onion is cooked, add the tomatoes, roughly chopped, raise the heat, and cook for a minute or two more.

Combine the beans in a gratin dish with the onions, tomatoes, and greens. Add enough bean water to almost cover. Taste, and correct the seasonings, and then pour the rest of the olive oil over the gratin. (You can prepare the gratin to this point in advance, even the day before, and refrigerate it.) To finish the gratin, cover the top with toasted breadcrumbs, and bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 45 minutes. Check it occasionally and moisten with more bean water if gratin seems to be drying out too much.