Recipe: Green breans with pancetta and shallots

Here is the recipe I talked about in my last post that I promised to share.  It is a slight variation of what the Hy-Vee nutritionist made at the cooking demo we went to a few weeks ago.  She said to blanch the green beans before adding them to your pan of other ingredients; I just saute them so that I don't have to dirty another pot, but you can certainly blanch the beans if you prefer.  I am terrible with measurements (I'm an eyeballer) but I tried to list measurements as accurately as I could.

 

Green beans with pancetta and shallots

1 oz. diced pancetta (I buy a 3 oz. package from Hy-Vee and use about 3 slices per lb. of green beans)

1/2 Tbsp. olive oil (just a guess; again, I'm an eyeballer!)

2-3 shallot cloves, chopped

1 lb. green beans, ends trimmed

Salt and pepper to taste

 

Cook the pancetta in a large frying pan until lightly browned.  Remove from the pan with a slotted spoon and set aside.  Add olive oil to the pan and allow it to heat.  Add the shallots, green beans, and salt and pepper; saute until desired consistency is reached (some people like pretty crisp beans, others like them wilted).  Add the pancetta back to the pan and heat through.

There are only a few ingredients in this recipe but it is amazingly flavorful.  Making this recipe was the first time I'd ever cooked with shallots.  I'm still wondering how I lived to be almost 28 before discovering them.  They are basically part garlic, part onion - so what's not to love?!  Green beans are my favorite summer produce item and eating them with the shallots and pancetta is just so delicious.  I'm sure I'll be making this recipe a few more times before summer ends.  Here's the photo of the finished product again.