Zander Filet on Bean Puree with Bacon Foam and Cime di rapa

After a pretty long time, I decided to finally give cime di rapa a try. In the past years, I always considered buying it, but as it was always prepacked, it just would have been too much and what would I do, in case I don't like it. Luckily, now I found a place where it is available unpacked, so I was able to take as much as I like. And if using a vegetable that is popular in Italy, well why not cook something that was inspired by an Italian chef? In my case it was Giorgio Locatelli, who combines another member of the Brasscia family with dried beans and bacon. In my dish I served the fish on bean puree with bacon foam, rapini and oven dried Parma ham.

Ingredients:
100 g dried beans
1 teaspoon rapeseed oil
1 onion
1 clove garlic
2 celery stalks
1 bay leaf
2 twigs thyme
100-150 ml chicken stock
salt, pepper

Soak dried beans the evening before. Cook it in water the next day until soft, sieve. Dice onion and slice garlic, then sautee in oil. Add sliced celery stalks and sautee for a few more minutes. Now add cooked beans, herbs and pour stock over it and cook for 7-10 minutes. Remove the herbs, puree and season with salt and pepper. If needed add more stock or even a knob of butter if you want it to be smoother.

50 g bacon
150 ml chicken stock
50 ml cream

Fry bacon in a saucepan, then add stock and cook over high heat for 5-7 minutes, then add cream and cook for another 5 minutes. Sieve and foam with the help of a mixer.