Kick off Festa Italiana with lupini beans

(Season lupini beans with fresh garlic and parsley, olive oil and balsamic vinegar)

Leave it to the Romans to figure out lupini beans could become a nutritious part of the Mediterranean diet, but only after weeks of soaking them to rid the beans of bitter alkaloids.

Centuries later, lupini beans are a delicious part of Italian antipasti, enjoyed as a prelude to a big feast.

Which is why I am bringing them to the second annual Festa Italiana, hosted by Maryann over at Finding La Dolce Vita and Marie, aka Proud Italian Cook.

They are generous hosts and creative Italian cooks who serve up family recipes with insight and charm.
This virtual feast is likely to whet your appetites for authentic Italian cuisine.
I enjoy sitting around the big table under the grape arbor with them and their guests as the sounds of laughter, good conversation and music fill the air, which is peppered with the aroma of delicious Italian food, from appetizers and entrees to desserts and drinks.

So what are you waiting for? Pull up a plate and dive in, but make sure you bring something to the table to share.
Visit their blogs for a roundup of all the tasty dishes that are being prepared for this special festa.

(Sort through the dried beans before soaking)

I am going to munch on some lupinis with a glass of red wine as I decide what I am going to dig into first at this festa.

My mother always made lupini beans for the big feast days in our home, namely Christmas and Easter. They are a bit labor intensive to make, but are so worth the effort. I enjoy lupini beans so much, I keep them going year round in my refrigerator — life is short, why wait for the next feast day to enjoy them? Lupini beans not only taste good, they are an excellent source of protein, which makes them a great part of any diet, especially for us vegetarians and vegans.

First you have to find the beans. Here in the Hudson Valley, Leonardo's in Rhinebeck carries them in bulk, which is where I have been getting them lately. Any good Italian deli should have them, and you can always find them online, but that's not as much fun as dipping into a big sack of the dried legumes to fill a bag to bring home.

They are easy to make, but you have to be diligent about the soaking process, otherwise you will have a bitter batch of toxic beans on your hands, which is not good at all!

Here is all you have to do:

Marinated Lupini Beans

For one pound of dried beans:

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.

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.
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.

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.

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.

Practice popping the beans into your mouth — watch for flying projectiles! You wouldn't want to hit someone across the table at this nice festa, now would you?

A big hug to our charming hosts, Maryann and Marie, for sponsoring this wonderful get-together. Mangia!

And save some room for dessert!