Food

Green Beans with Chestnuts, Brown Butter & Lemon

This elegant side dish offers a tasty combination of green beans with chestnuts for enhanced sweetness, and lemon zest for extra brightness.

By Yankee Magazine

Nov 26 2016

Green Beans with Chestnuts, Brown Butter & Lemon

Green Beans with Chestnuts, Brown Butter & Lemon

Photo Credit : Kristin Teig

If you’ve eaten green beans with almonds, you know how nuts enhance the vegetable’s natural sweetness. We also like to combine green beans with chestnuts and lemon zest for extra brightness.

Yield:

8 to 10 servings

Ingredients

2-1/2 pounds thin green beans, ends trimmed
3-1/2 tablespoons salted butter
6 ounces peeled and roasted chestnuts, sliced (see “Note,” above)
1 teaspoon freshly grated lemon zest
Kosher or sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Instructions

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the beans and simmer until almost tender, about 5 minutes. Drain, and place under cold running water. Drain again. You can prepare the beans several hours ahead.

In a large skillet, warm the butter over medium-low heat about 4 minutes, or until the butter sizzles and just begins to turn a pale golden brown. Add the chestnuts and cook 2 minutes; then season with lemon zest, salt, and pepper. Add the beans and toss so that all the beans are coated with the butter and chestnuts. Taste for seasoning, and serve hot.