Goat and beans is a typical recipe of Rocchetta Nervina, a little village in the hinterland of the Italian region Liguria. Every summer, in August, Rocchetta Nervina organises the goat and beans festival to celebrate this dish.
The main ingredients of this recipe are goat meat and Pigna white beans. Pigna white beans are recognised as a Slow Food product. They are a particular selection of white beans that arrived in the Ligurian province of Imperia in the seventeeth century, brought from Spain, and which developed in the villages of Pigna, Badalucco and Conio.
Goat and beans is the most traditional way to enjoy Pigna’s white beans. Here is our suggested recipe for those who want to try it at home.
Ingredients (serve 6 people)
1 kg goat meat (the goat has to be young so the meat will be very tender)
lard or pancetta
1 big onion
1 celery rib
1 carrot
4 tablespoons tomato sauce
1 glass of red wine, ideally Rossese di Dolceacqua doc
extra-virgin olive oil
rosemary, bay leaves, thymes and oregano
salt
Method
Chop the onion, the carrot and the celery. In a big pot, fry the chopped vegetable on low heat with the oil and the lard.
When the vegetables are brown, add the goat meat precedently chopped, stirring often. After a couple of minutes, add the wine and let it dissolve it, leaving it on medium heat for about an hour. Keep stirring, and add warm water if this is needed to prevent the meat from sticking to the bottom of the pot.
Add the herbs, the tomato sauce and the salt.
In the meantime, boil the Pigna beans, then drain them and add them to the pot with the goat meat. Keep on the heat for another half an hour.
The goat will be ready when the meat becomes so tender it can be cut gently with a fork.
When ready, serve the dish with toasted bread.
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