{"id":4137,"date":"2018-02-19T09:00:57","date_gmt":"2018-02-19T16:00:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/villasentieri.com\/?post_type=recipe&p=4137"},"modified":"2026-09-02T10:58:47","modified_gmt":"2026-09-02T17:58:47","slug":"kidney-beans-in-tomato-sauce","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/villasentieri.com\/index.php\/2018\/02\/19\/kidney-beans-in-tomato-sauce\/","title":{"rendered":"Kidney Beans in Tomato Sauce"},"content":{"rendered":"

February 19, 2018<\/span><\/p>\n

As you may have figured out by now, we live in a multi-generational household.<\/p>\n

My husband\u2019s parents live in our casita in Santa Fe.\u00a0 Before we moved to Santa Fe, they lived in our coach house in Chicago.<\/p>\n

Meals are usually communal affairs and, after many years, I\u2019m learning to make some of my mother-in-law\u2019s dishes that I\u2019ve taken for granted for more than 20 years.<\/p>\n

Though these beans could easily be the centerpiece of a vegetarian meal if you leave out the bacon, they usually accompany something more pleasing to carnivores (that would be my husband and my father-in-law).\u00a0 For this rendition, I went back to the original recipe, with bacon, though usually my mother-in-law leaves it out and simply adds a few tablespoons of olive oil to saut\u00e9 the onion and bell pepper.<\/p>\n

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My husband at two years of age with his parents<\/strong><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As I was learning to make these with my mother-in-law, I also learned that the recipe originally came from Lorraine, the wife of my brother-in-law’s godfather, Jack.\u00a0 Lorraine is of Polish heritage but was married to Jack, a close friend of my father-in-law who moved to the USA from Italy.<\/p>\n

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I\u2019m totally confused by the heritage of these beans.\u00a0 My mother-in-law says they\u2019re Polish based on Lorraine.\u00a0 I always thought of them as Italian because, until recently, I thought the recipe was from my mother-in-law\u2019s family and, also, because the red sauce with bacon is pretty similar to an Italian-American adaptation<\/a> of a classic Italian method for cooking green beans.\u00a0 The bacon is a substitute for pancetta which is the same cut of meat as bacon but which is not smoked after it is cured.<\/p>\n

I guess I\u2019m going to have to go with my mother-in-law\u2019s assertion that these are Polish though I can\u2019t say I ever had anything like them among the Poles and other Eastern Europeans in my hometown of Johnstown, PA.\u00a0 Really, though, that\u2019s not definitive.\u00a0 I\u2019ve never had any potato cakes<\/a> like my Slovak grandmother\u2019s (unless they were made by one of her daughters-in-law, of which there were seven!).\u00a0 That doesn\u2019t make those potato cakes any less Slovak, though.<\/p>\n

Red beans and tomatoes are a common combination internationally.\u00a0 There are versions from New Orleans to Haiti to India to South America to Italy to name just a few.\u00a0 To be sure, the seasonings vary tremendously but the basics, red beans and a tomato-based sauce, remain the same.<\/p>\n

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Fast forward to the 1970\u2019s:\u00a0 my husband (on the right) and his brother (on the left) with their parents<\/strong><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I\u2019ve decided to keep this recipe in its original form, with canned beans and tomato sauce.\u00a0 Although I keep an array of canned beans in my pantry for unexpected events I usually prefer to start with dry beans.\u00a0 Most commercial brands of tomato sauce are made from tomato paste and water, with a bit of onion powder and garlic powder added.\u00a0 In place of tomato sauce, I typically use tomato paste and water to achieve the same results.<\/p>\n

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If you have a favorite family recipe and a bit of a story to tell, please email me at santafecook@villasentieri.com<\/a> and we can discuss including it in the blog. I am expanding the scope of my blog to include traditional recipes from around the country and around the world. If you haven\u2019t seen Bertha\u2019s Flan<\/a> or Melinda\u2019s Drunken Prunes<\/a>, take a look.\u00a0 They will give you an idea of what I\u2019m looking for.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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Kidney Beans in Tomato Sauce<\/h2>\n
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These beans can be made without the bacon, or with less bacon, in which case a few tablespoons of oil will need to be used to saut\u00e9 the onion and bell pepper. If you want extra sauce just increase the amount of tomato sauce. You can saut\u00e9 a clove or two of minced garlic with the onion and bell pepper if you would like. The liquid from the canned beans will improve the consistency of the sauce. Before using it, however, taste it to be sure that it does not have a metallic flavor which happens with some brands of beans. If so, drain and rinse the beans and add additional water in place of the liquid in the cans.<\/div>\n
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Prep Time <\/span>5 minutes<\/span><\/span> mins<\/span><\/span><\/div>
Cook Time <\/span>1 hour<\/span><\/span> hr<\/span> 15 minutes<\/span><\/span> mins<\/span><\/span><\/div>
Total Time <\/span>1 hour<\/span><\/span> hr<\/span> 20 minutes<\/span><\/span> mins<\/span><\/span><\/div><\/div>\n
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Servings: <\/span>6<\/span> people<\/span><\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Ingredients
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