Baked Asiago Green Bean Fries + Spicy Tomato-Basil Ketchup at Home

Today is our official first day of school. I have a middle school-er, 7th grade – WHAT? I swear I was only there myself! And a 4th grader… I could cry. But one good way to cope… these beans.

Oh yes.

I’m somewhat in love with these green bean fries, and equally if not more in love with the spicy, tomato-basil ketchup that I dunked them in. I don’t even like ketchup and I’m soooo incredibly obsessed with this!

There I was, alone while the girls were at a friend’s house… I had a couple pounds of fresh green beans that I picked up from my go-to market and nothing but time to kill. I had to do something with the green beans before they went bad, so I made them into fries. Naturally.

My daughter sparked this idea when earlier in the summer when I made grilled green beans and she said that they were “like the next french fry”. I thought, hmmm french fry… green beans… why yes, it can entirely happen.

But like any french fry, you’re going to need something to dip them in. And only because I was using Asiago cheese in the breading for the beans, I thought it only natural to pop some basil in my ketchup.

Now let’s do this.

In the bowl of your mini food processor throw in a half cup of washed and dried basil leaves along with a clove of peeled fresh garlic.

Then I threw in a quarter teaspoon of red pepper flakes, up the amounts for an uber-spicy ketchup.

Throw in a half cup of ketchup (kitchen-made, not kitchen-made… nobody judges here), kosher salt and coarse black pepper.

Next, secure the lid, and pulse until the garlic and basil are mixed throughout.

Boom. Spicy, tomato-basil ketchup. Tomato ketchup plus garlic plus basil plus red pepper flakes are a sure way to turn up the notch on regular old ketchup. Of course, making your own ketchup and then following the steps above will only make this fabulous ketchup… more fabulous.

Now… before you do anything green bean related you must trim off the stems. FYI two pounds of green beans = a lot of stem removal.

Let’s blanch, shall we? Since I had two l-b’s of beans and only needed one pound of them… I first blanched them. To do that bring a big pot, or deep 10-inch skillet filled with water to a boil.

Next, add a good pinch or two of kosher salt.

And then carefully drop in ALL of the beans.

Then give the beans 3-4 minutes in the water, to par-cook those beauts.

Using tongs, grab a bunch of beans.

Next plunge them into a nearby icy water bath. This will shock the beans, put a halt to cooking and lock in the bright green color.

Then using my trusty scale, I measured out about a pound.

And flash froze the rest of my beans… ya-know for the next time I’m craving these fries of course!

Now to flash freeze it’s ridiculously simple. Wash, trim, blanch and pat-dry the beans and scatter them on a parchment lined, rimmed sheet pan. Pop them into the freezer for 25 minutes. Remove and store in a freezer-safe bag. So incredibly simple.

Now go get organized with your breading stations. Two whipped egg whites in one. 1 cup Asiago, 1 cup Panko breadcrumbs and black pepper in the other.

Mix.

Then transfer a few green beans into the egg whites, let any excess drip off before.

Next, drop the green beans in to the Asiago breading. Toss them all around and…

…start lining them up!

Then bake in your preheated oven for 15-20 minutes. Do not turn or flip or the “breading” may tear away from the bean.

Next, let the baked asiago green bean fries cool for 5 minutes before serving with that glorious basil-ketchup…

… and beer, or any midday nip if that’s your thing… so completely my thing.

Crispy, cheesy, tomato-basil-y heaven. I’m pretty sure I only died when I snacked on {all} these.

I’m serious.

PROMISE ME you’ll make the ketchup… you’re life will be forever changed. Swear.

Oh and while you’re at it… make the baked asiago green bean fries, they’ll help you cope with summer ending and school beginning.

Enjoy! And if you give this Baked Asiago Green Bean Fries recipe a try, let me know! Snap a photo and tag me on twitter or instagram!