Lupini Beans - Preserves


Vegetarian, Vegan, Gluten-free, Dairy-free

Meal Type
Preserves
Cuisine
Italian
Author
blogs.poughkeepsiejournal.com
Serves
10
Preparation Time
Too long for the piggle to wait
Cooking Time
1 hour

Ingredients

  • 450 - 500g dried lupini beans
  • plenty of water
  • a few tablespoons of salt

Instructions

Preparation

  1. Sort through the beans, looking for any foreign matter in there, such as pebbles or chaff or nasty-looking beans.
  2. Rinse them well.
  3. Place them in a large bowl and cover with water.
  4. Let soak overnight.

The next day

  1. Drain and rinse the beans.
  2. Place the beans in a large stock pot and cover with cold water.
  3. Bring the water to a boil, turn down the heat and let simmer for about an hour.
  4. Turn off the heat and let cool.
  5. Rinse the beans again and place them in a gallon jar; fill with cold water.
  6. Place the jar in the refrigerator and rinse the beans well every day, finishing with fresh water, for at least two weeks. Mark the start time on your calendar so you don't forget.
  7. It is essential to rinse the beans daily. There are bitter alkaloids in the lupinis that are released in the water over time. You can see the rinse water change each day from a yellow hue to clear after about two weeks.
  8. At the two-week mark, taste one of the beans; if it's still a bit bitter, keep rinsing for a few more days until all the bitterness is gone.
  9. When the beans no longer bite back, add about a tablespoon of salt per quart to the jar. (I use about five tablespoons for a gallon jar.) Keep the lupinis in this salted brine as you use them.

Notes

  • These are great, very reminiscent of plain mozzarella cheese in flavour with a different mouth-feel and more nutritional value.
  • You can fix quart jars with the beans by adding salt, whole black peppercorns, fresh parsley, a clove of garlic, red wine vinegar (about 1/4 cup), balsamic vinegar (2 tablespoons), splash of Tamari (optional) and fill the rest of the jar with water to the top.
  • Serve the lupinis in a nice bowl with a drizzle of olive oil, salt, if needed, and freshly ground black pepper.
  • The art of eating lupinis at the table: Pick up a bean and bite into the skin. Squeeze the bottom of the skin and pop the bean into your mouth. The skins are edible, but too fibrous to really enjoy. The inner bean is succulent and meaty, and the essence of the salt, pepper, olive oil and vinegar come through nicely with every bite.