Mario Batali’s Green Beans (Fagiolini in Padella)

Memorial Day and Larry came. He drove in Saturday morning and he looked better than last time, or maybe I was looking for better and found it because I needed to. He ate two hamburgers instead of one, which I counted because I count everything Larry eats now, the way his doctor should be counting and is not because Larry does not go to the doctor, because Larry is sixty-five and believes that doctors are for people who are sick and he is not sick, he is just tired, and there is a difference, and the difference is denial, and denial is the Novak family sport.

The parade was the same. Third Street. Fire trucks. The band. Larry stood next to me and we watched together and I leaned into him slightly, not enough for him to notice but enough for me to feel him there, solid and warm, smelling like diesel and coffee and Old Spice, which he has worn since I was a child, and which is the smell of my father, which is the smell of home.

Dave grilled. Potato salad, mustardy. Gayle beans. The chocolate sheet cake because holidays get cake. The kids ran with sparklers at dusk, the same as every year, and this year I watched with the specific attention of a woman who is trying to memorize something she is afraid of losing. I watched Larry in his lawn chair. I watched his hands around his beer. I watched the way he laughed at Josie running with her sparkler, a full laugh, a dad laugh, a grandpa laugh. I memorized it. I held it. Some memories you make on purpose because you suspect you will need them later.

I made cornbread to go with the beans, my buttermilk cornbread, slightly sweet the way I like it and the way Gayle does not like it. Gayle says cornbread should not have sugar. I say cornbread without sugar is just hot bread with an identity crisis. We have been having this argument for thirty years and neither of us has conceded and neither of us will, and the argument is as much a tradition as the beans, and I love the argument the way I love the beans: completely, without reservation, forever.

Gayle always brings the beans, and I always make the cornbread, and that is the deal we have had for thirty years and it works because we let it work. But some years, when the table feels like something worth holding onto, I find myself wanting a second pot of something green and simple — the kind of dish that doesn’t ask much of you but gives a lot back. This Italian green bean saute is that dish: a little garlic, a little olive oil, fresh beans cooked just until tender, and enough restraint to let the ingredients be themselves. It’s the kind of recipe that fits right alongside cornbread and potato salad without making a fuss, which is exactly the kind of company I want at my table.

Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 15 minutes | Total Time: 25 minutes | Servings: 6

Ingredients

1 1/2 pounds fresh green beans, trimmed
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

Instructions

Blanch the beans. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the green beans and cook for 3 to 4 minutes, until bright green and just barely tender. Drain and set aside.
Build the base. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the sliced garlic and red pepper flakes and cook, stirring frequently, for 1 to 2 minutes until the garlic is fragrant and just beginning to turn golden. Watch it closely — garlic can go from golden to bitter fast.
Saute the beans. Add the blanched green beans to the skillet along with 2 tablespoons of water. Toss to coat and cook for 4 to 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the beans are tender and have absorbed the flavors of the garlic and oil.
Season and finish. Season with salt and black pepper. Remove from heat and drizzle with lemon juice. Toss once more and taste, adjusting seasoning as needed.
Serve. Transfer to a serving platter and serve warm or at room temperature alongside your holiday spread.

Nutrition (per serving)

Mario Batali’s Green Beans (Fagiolini in Padella) — The Side Dish That Holds the Table Together