Homemaking Homesteader

How to Cook a Great Bean Dish:
In the following pictures you will see how I cook one of our favorite bean dishes, Italian Pintos. It seemed I was always seeing how to turn beans into chili and at one point I set out to try something different and this was what I came up with and my family has loved it ever since.

The actual recipe can be found here: http://www.thefamilyhomestead.com/italianpintobeans.htm

The recipe gives directions on how to cook this meal by fist soaking the beans. I, as mentioned above, forgot to do this so the water amount is different (beans expand and soak up water during an overnight soaking). The recipe also calls for optional green peppers. I would have added them except when I went shopping yesterday and Costco was out of the mini peppers that I love to buy. So they are not part of this recipe.

Here are the ingredients needed to make Italian Pintos (I forgot to add the parmesan cheese and garlic to the picture):

The first step is to cook the beans. This will take 2 ½ to 3 hours or more if you live at higher elevations.

Add the beans to your soup pot:

Add 12 cups water (this is the adjusted amount of water because I did not soak them. If I had soaked them I would have followed the recipe accordingly).

Add 1 tablespoon of salt (my standard measurement is 1 t salt for each cup of beans and this recipe calls for 3 cups beans):

Bring the beans to a boil leaving the lid off. After they have come to a boil slowly bring turn the temp down over the next 5 minutes. I usually set a timer for this:

I have found that if I bring the beans to a boil, cover them and turn the heat down they always boil out over the pot making a big mess. When I do it slowly over 5 minutes and then put the lid on and finally turn it down on low, nothing boils over.

Now go ahead and think about any other dinner preps you want to go with this meal. I served a salad and the second loaf of French bread that I made a couple of days earlier and froze. Or go and do something else, as other than side dish preps, there really is nothing more to do until dinner time.

When the time is up, check to see if the beans have cooked enough. Use a slotted spoon and pull up a couple of beans. Blow on them, the first thing that should happen is the skin on the beans should split. This is a good sign. Then taste one. They should not be hard in any way. They should be soft. If they are hard, let them cook a little longer. Another test I do is when I stir the beans is that they should not feel “clicky”. That is my own term (at least I have never heard it used before) and one that I don’t really know a better way to describe, but you should not feel them bumping up against each other when you stir them. Try stirring them when you know they are not done yet to get a feel for “clicky”.

When your beans are done go ahead and cook up the sausage and onions. Begin by chopping up your onions (and peppers, if you are using them):

Get out your frying pan and let heat up:

Add the onions and sausage (this is where you would also add the optional peppers):

And cook these until the meat is no longer pink and the onions are soft.

Now add the rest of the ingredients to the pot of cooked beans:

The sausage and onions:

Diced tomatoes:

Chopped Garlic:


Italian Seasonings:

Mozzarella cheese:


Parmesan Cheese:


Stir and taste and add a little salt if you think it needs it, I never do..  they taste delicious! :)

Serve this up in soup bowls with a nice salad on the side and maybe some French bread, dinner rolls, or even some good quality whole grain crackers:

Then enjoy your dinner!!!! ~smile~

***Last thing I should mention about this recipe is it makes a lot! So if you are a small sized family, feel free to cut it in half or freeze half of it for another meal.