White Bean Stew
Dried cannellini cooked slowly in a lot of olive oil and their own broth, with a ladleful mashed back in for body.
- Prep
- 20m
- Cook
- 1h 20m
- Waiting
- 8h
- Total
- 9h 40m
- Serves
- 6
- Effort
- Easy
Method
Tap a step number to mark it done. Tap an ingredient once for got it, twice for need it.
| 6 tbsp | Soften the aromatics slowly in a generous amount of olive oil 15m More oil than looks reasonable. It emulsifies into the broth over the long cook. | Simmer very gently until the beans are creamy and the broth has thickened 1h 5m A bare tremble. A hard boil bursts the skins and leaves you with soup and rubble. | Mash a ladleful of the beans and stir it back into the pot 3m Free starch is what makes the broth cling to a spoon. No flour, no cream. | Finish off the heat with lemon zest, olive oil and parsley 3m The raw oil at the end tastes completely different from the cooked oil underneath. Use both. | |
| 1 | |||||
| 2 sticks | |||||
| 1 | |||||
| 5 cloves | |||||
| 1 sprig | |||||
| 1 tsp | |||||
| 1/2 tsp | |||||
| 350 g | Soak the beans overnight, then drain 5m Soaked beans cook evenly. Unsoaked ones give you a pot where a third are still chalky. | ||||
| a pinch | |||||
| 1.2 l | |||||
| 2 | |||||
| 1 wide strip | |||||
| 200 g | |||||
| 2 tsp | |||||
| 1 | |||||
| 3 tbsp | |||||
| a large handful | |||||
-
Soften the aromatics slowly in a generous amount of olive oil
15m- extra virgin olive oil 6 tbsp
- onion 1
- celery 2 sticks
- carrot 1
- garlic 5 cloves
- rosemary 1 sprig
- fennel seeds 1 tsp
- dried chilli flakes 1/2 tsp
More oil than looks reasonable. It emulsifies into the broth over the long cook.
-
Soak the beans overnight, then drain
5m- dried cannellini beans 350 g
- bicarbonate of soda a pinch
Soaked beans cook evenly. Unsoaked ones give you a pot where a third are still chalky.
-
Simmer very gently until the beans are creamy and the broth has thickened
1h 5m- from 1 Soften the aromatics slowly in a generous amount of olive oil
- from 2 Soak the beans overnight, then drain
- water 1.2 l
- bay leaves 2
- lemon peel 1 wide strip
- cavolo nero 200 g
- salt 2 tsp
A bare tremble. A hard boil bursts the skins and leaves you with soup and rubble.
-
Mash a ladleful of the beans and stir it back into the pot
3m- from 3 Simmer very gently until the beans are creamy and the broth has thickened
Free starch is what makes the broth cling to a spoon. No flour, no cream.
-
Finish off the heat with lemon zest, olive oil and parsley
3m- from 4 Mash a ladleful of the beans and stir it back into the pot
- lemon zest 1
- extra virgin olive oil 3 tbsp
- parsley a large handful
The raw oil at the end tastes completely different from the cooked oil underneath. Use both.
Why salt goes in late
Bean skins are held together by pectin. Calcium and magnesium in hard water, and a heavy dose of salt early on, both slow the pectin from dissolving, so the skins stay tough while the insides overcook and burst. A pinch of bicarbonate in the soak raises the pH and does the opposite, softening the skins so the whole bean arrives creamy at the same moment. Salt once they are tender and the seasoning still gets right through.
Notes
- The cooking liquid is the sauce. Keep the beans barely covered and never drain them.
- Beans older than a year or two may simply never soften. Buy them somewhere with turnover.
- A thick slice of grilled bread rubbed with garlic under the bowl is the whole meal.