Giant Limas With Winter Squash

Name: Giant Limas With Winter Squash
Total time: 2 h
Yield: 4 to 6 servings.
Ingredients: 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil; 1 medium onion, chopped; 4 garlic cloves, minced; 1 pound (about 2 1/2 cups) dried giant lima beans, rinsed; 2 quarts plus 1 cup water; A bouquet garni made with a bay leaf, a Parmesan rind and a sprig each of sage, thyme and parsley; 1 pound winter squash, peeled and cut in small dice; Salt to taste; Freshly ground pepper; 2 tablespoons slivered fresh sage leaves; Freshly grated Parmesan for serving (optional)

By Martha Rose Shulman

Total Time: 2 hours
Rating: 4(84)
Comments: Read comments

I love the fact that beans, lentils and greens symbolize prosperity in the New Year in places as disparate as the American South and the South of France. I wonder if it’s really because lentils and beans are round like coins and swell when they cook, or if it’s because that’s about all anybody can afford to eat after the excesses of the holiday season.

The notion of thrift wouldn’t apply to some of the other foods that symbolize good luck or prosperity in certain cultures – fish, for instance, or saffron. I’ve taken traditions from different places this week and thrown some of them together, focusing mainly on lentils, beans, greens and fish. These are simple dishes that I hope will help you to begin 2012 on a happy, healthy note. Look for more New Year’s dishes in the Recipes for Health index.

Baking in a slow oven is the best way to cook large lima beans, which can fall apart easily if boiled too hard. This dish is luxuriously creamy (though there’s no cream in it) and comforting.

Featured in: Recipes for Health: Lucky Foods to Ring in the New Year

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Ingredients

Yield:4 to 6 servings.

2tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1medium onion, chopped
4garlic cloves, minced
1pound (about 2½ cups) dried giant lima beans, rinsed
2quarts plus 1 cup water
A bouquet garni made with a bay leaf, a Parmesan rind and a sprig each of sage, thyme and parsley
1pound winter squash, peeled and cut in small dice
Salt to taste
Freshly ground pepper
2tablespoons slivered fresh sage leaves
Freshly grated Parmesan for serving (optional)

Ingredient Substitution Guide

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Preparation

Step 1
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a large, heavy ovenproof casserole or Dutch oven and add the onion. Cook, stirring often, until it is tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in half the garlic and cook, stirring, until it is fragrant, 30 seconds to a minute. Add the beans, water and bouquet garni and bring to a simmer. Cover and place in the oven for 45 minutes.
Step 2
Remove the casserole from the oven and stir in the remaining garlic, the winter squash, and salt to taste. If the mixture seems dry, add a little more water. Return to the oven and bake an hour longer, or until the beans and squash are very tender. Remove from the heat and remove the bouquet garni. Adjust salt, add pepper to taste and stir in the slivered sage.

Tip

Advance preparation: The dish will keep for 3 or 4 days in the refrigerator, but it changes, as the limas fall apart and the dish turns into a sort of semi-mashed bean and squash dish. It's still delicious, but it will be thick enough to eat with a fork.

Ratings

4 out of 5

84 user ratings

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Comments

Chris7 years ago

I thought this sounded a bit bland so I made the following modifications with DELICIOUS results:

- Doubled the amount of onions and garlic
- Added two sliced carrots
- Replaced 2 cups of water with a can of chopped tomatoes w/their juice.

KLM5 years ago

Having read the Notes I tried to amp up the flavor by using half vegetable broth, half water - I think it really added flavor - I increased garlic, thyme, bay, sage and a large Parm rind and all made for really nice flavor - the sage and cheese at the end is critical, don’t skip it! Did add 7 or 8 grinds of fresh pepper and a bit of salt - really tasty served with some toasted baguette and a Sauvignon Blanc - would definitely make again!

dnovgo3 years ago

I made this last night and it was much enjoyed by my vegetarian family. I paid attention to all the earlier notes — used vegetable broth instead of water, doubled the onions, added carrots, added herbs. I added several handfuls of fresh spinach too, which I liked a lot. I also think it needs to be cooked at a somewhat higher temperature. It wasn’t ready after the specified time and I needed to feed people quickly! I put it on the stove top for the last 15 minutes.

ccfca4 months ago

I made per recipe (mostly), however I only had small limas and a kabocha squash. Used a lot of ‘sprigs’ in my bouquet garni, so the herb depth was nice. I’m not sure if it was the small limas, but the end result was quite soupy… should have used less water accordingly. The kabocha wound up making it quite sweet, so I added fire roasted tomatoes at the end to attempt to cut the sweetness, but wasn’t meaning to add tomatoes when I started out (Eg., Butternut, might not need that acidic hit). Also added some hot chili flakes. Served with broiled hot Italian sausages. Worth another try!

karen d1 year ago

Delicious! I used Rancho Gordon Giant Limas. Soaked them overnight. Used fresh herbs and a large-ish chunk of parm rind. I had homemade turkey broth in the freezer so used that for the liquid. And as another suggested, I added a can of plum tomatoes. Served on a small bed of local spinach. So good to come home to, wow! It’s more like a soup, but what a soup!

Rachel3 years ago

As others have said, I jazzed this up with thyme, marjoram and a bit of Braggs Liquid Aminos. I also have 8 oz of mushrooms that I threw in. This was delicious.

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