French Recipes

Jambon de Vendée aux mogettes

Dry Mogette de Vendée beans are soaked overnight and simmered until creamy but intact, then served with thick Jambon de Vendée slices browned only long enough to heat through.

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Jambon de Vendée aux mogettes — shown in a pan
Prep 20 minutes
Cook 94 minutes
Total 834 minutes
Yield 4 plates with about 180 g cooked beans and 150 g ham each
Ingredients ↓
Introduction and overview

Jambon de Vendée aux Mogettes

Jambon de Vendée aux mogettes is a pairing of two distinct Vendée products rather than a generic ham-and-beans idea. Mogette de Vendée is a protected white bean valued for thin skin and a melting interior, while Jambon de Vendée is a protected cured ham that can be served in thick slices and lightly browned.

Dry mogettes need time. They soak for twelve hours, then the soaking water is discarded and the beans cook in a fresh measured litre of water with onion, garlic, thyme and bay. A quiet ninety-minute simmer softens the centre without blowing the skins apart. No salt is added to the pot because both the ham and demi-sel butter already contribute heavily to seasoning.

The ham is not glazed, sauced or slowly baked. Thick slices spend only about two minutes per side in a hot pan so they colour and become hot without scorching or drying. That quick treatment keeps the meat technically distinct from the Chablis cream-sauce ham elsewhere in the batch and from the cold sliced ham used in jambon-beurre.

The bean cooking liquid is mostly drained before serving, so nutrition is based on the cooked drained bean yield rather than the full litre of water. The full edible ham weight and finishing butter are included, which explains why sodium remains high even without added salt.

Success points

Success points

  • Give dry mogettes the full overnight soak and cook them at a gentle simmer rather than a hard boil.
  • Season cautiously: Jambon de Vendée and demi-sel butter already bring substantial salt.
  • Brown the cured ham only briefly so its surface colours without becoming leathery.
Ingredients

Ingredients

Mogettes

  • 300 g dry Mogette de Vendée IGP beans, sorted and rinsed — about 720 g cooked drained beans after soaking and simmering
  • 1000 ml water, fresh, for soaking
  • 1000 ml water, fresh, for cooking
  • 120 g yellow onion, halved
  • 10 g garlic, lightly crushed
  • 3 g fresh thyme, tied
  • 1 piece bay leaf, whole
  • 15 g demi-sel butter, for finishing the beans

Ham

  • 600 g Jambon de Vendée IGP, 4 thick slices about 5 mm thick — edible weight; cured ham
Method

Method

Directions

  1. Start the soak. Sort and rinse the beans, put them in a large bowl and add exactly 1000 ml fresh water. No stones or damaged beans remain and the beans are fully submerged.

  2. Soak overnight. Cover and soak for 720 minutes. The beans are visibly swollen and evenly hydrated. In a warm kitchen, keep the bowl refrigerated during the soak.

  3. Drain and prepare. Discard the soaking water, rinse and drain the beans, prepare the onion, garlic, thyme and bay, and divide the ham into four even thick slices. The soaked beans are cleanly drained and the ham is portioned into four even slices.

  4. Cook the mogettes gently. Put the drained beans, onion, garlic, thyme and bay in the saucepan with exactly 1000 ml fresh water. Bring to a simmer, partially cover and cook very gently for about 90 minutes. The bean centres are creamy with no chalky core, while most skins remain intact.

  5. Finish the beans. Drain off excess liquid, leaving the beans moist, then fold in the demi-sel butter for about 2 minutes. The beans are glossy and moist, with no pool of thin cooking water.

  6. Brown the ham briefly. Heat a dry frying or grill pan over medium-high heat. Brown the ham for about 2 minutes per side. The ham has light browned patches on both sides, is hot through at 60 °C and has not scorched. Serve immediately with the beans.

Serving

Practical

Serving

Spoon about 180 g drained cooked mogettes onto each plate and place one 150 g slice of hot Jambon de Vendée alongside. The beans should be moist enough to eat with the ham but not swimming in broth.

Storage and reheating

Cool beans and ham promptly and refrigerate within 2 hours at 4 °C or below for up to 3 days. Store them separately if possible. Reheat leftovers to 74 °C; add a spoonful of water to the beans during reheating if they have thickened, but do not alter the base recipe with extra butter or cream.

Make-ahead and substitutions

The beans can be soaked the night before and cooked earlier on the serving day. Warm them gently before the ham goes into the pan. Generic dry white beans can mimic the texture, and another cured ham can mimic the service format, but neither substitution should be described as preserving the named Vendée IGP identities.

Nutrition per serving

Nutrition per serving

  • Serving sizeabout 180 g cooked beans plus 150 g ham
  • Calories660 kcal
  • Carbohydrate48 g
  • Protein48 g
  • Fat28 g
  • Fibre13 g
  • Sodium2100 mg
Allergens and food safety

Allergens and food safety

Milk from demi-sel butter. The ham and butter are salty, so no extra salt is built into the recipe. For immediate service, warm the ready-to-eat cured ham to about 60 °C; reheat stored leftovers to 74 °C. Refrigerate cooked beans and ham within 2 hours at 4 °C or below.

Closing

Closing

  • Result: Dry Mogette de Vendée beans are soaked overnight and simmered until creamy but intact, then served with thick Jambon de Vendée slices browned only long enough to heat through.
  • Decisive technique: Give dry mogettes the full overnight soak and cook them at a gentle simmer rather than a hard boil.
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