Ingredients:
1 pound of green beans, with both ends broken off
2 eggs
1 tbsp lemon juice
2-4 sprigs fresh thyme
¾ cup asiago, parmesan or pecorino cheese, grated or chopped up
2 cloves of garlic
3 pieces of stale bread
½ cup parsley, coarsely chopped
¼ cup walnuts
1 cup flour
1 tsp black pepper
Instructions:
Blanch or steam the green beans, allowing them to get bright green, but stay crunchy (about 2 minutes in salted boiling water if you blanch them). Once they have been blanched or steamed you can set them in the fridge while you do the next couple of steps.
In one bowl, mix together the flour and the pepper, in another bowl lightly beat together the eggs and the lemon juice.
Combine the thyme, walnuts, cheese, garlic, bread and parsley in the floor processor and pulse until everything is well combined. I like to keep this mixture pretty dry and sometime find that adding more bread or walnuts creates a texture that is easier to work with. Pour this mixture into a bowl.
Line up your bowls in this order: egg mixture, flour mixture, cheese mixture.
Place the beans in the egg mixture, rolling them around until well coated, then put them in the flour and finally in the cheese mixture.
Place the beans onto greased baking sheets and bake at 400°F degrees for 15-20 minutes.
Variations:
Substitute sunflower seeds, almonds, or pecans for the walnuts.
Use gluten-free bread and flour mixture to make the dish gluten-free.
