Green Bean Gratin

Here's another new side to try this T-day holiday.  It's a spin on your traditional green bean casserole.

Green Bean Gratin

1 lb haricot vertes, trimmed
2/3 cup plain bread crumbs
1 tbsp olive oil
3/4 cup fresh shredded parmesan cheese, divided
1/3 cup pecans, finely chopped
2 oz crumbled feta
1/2 cup whipping cream
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp pepper

Trim and cut beans crosswise into thirds.  In a medium pot, covered just with water, cook beans until tender crisp.

Drain and drop into ice water to stop cooking process.  Remove from ice water and pat dry.  Set aside.

In a small bowl, mix bread crumbs and 1/4 cup parmesan cheese.  Add olive oil and mix well until bread crumbs are coated with oil. I used my fingers to mix it up to make sure the olive oil got evenly distributed. Stir in pecans then set aside.

Toss beans with feta, whipping cream, salt, pepper.

Add in the remaining 1/2 cup of parmesan cheese.

Spoon bean mixture into an 8x8" baking dish.

Sprinkle with crumb mixture and bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes uncovered.

Place a sheet of aluminum foil over the top and continue to bake for another 15 minutes. 

Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

NOTES

The beans are still a bit al dente, which I love, but if you'd rather have slightly softer beans, I would boil them longer.  Give them a taste test at this stage because they won't baked down much softer.

If you like a little more crumb topping, then you can up the bread crumbs to 3/4 or even 1 cup without changing anything else.

It's not as moist a dish as a traditional green bean casserole.  If you'd like a little more moisture, just up the heavy cream to 3/4 cup and that should do the trick.