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Good Afternoon, Mr. Skehan

White Beans In Tomato Sauce

White beans on toast

One of the recipes that caught my eye in Donal’s new book [1] was for “proper beans on toast”. Actually, it was not so much the recipe per se, as the reminder of how easy it is to make a simple white bean and tomato sauce to go with some crusty toasted bread

So I borrowed the idea and made my own. While Donal’s sauce uses red wine and Worcestershire sauce, this one, with fennel and smoked paprika, has a more Mediterranean feel. It would be equally at home on a bed of pasta as on hot buttered toast.

You can really use any small to medium-sized white beans for this – haricot (or navy) beans, cannellini or white kidney beans. You could even use larger butter beans if you like. It’s easiest, of course, to used tinned beans, though I do prefer the results when they’re cooked from dried.

As for the vodka, I would have to admit that I’m quite fond of adding it to tomato sauce. It helps to release alcohol-soluble flavours in the tomatoes and seems to bring out a natural sweetness. You can skip it if you prefer and you might also like to add a little sugar to the sauce, depending on the acidity of the tomatoes.

You’ll need:

  • 100g dried haricot, cannellini or white kidney beans, soaked overnight (or use the quick-soak method, see right) or use 1 x 400g tin cannellini beans
  • olive oil for frying
  • 1 medium onion, approx. 150g, finely chopped
  • 2 large cloves garlic, finely chopped
  • 0.25 tsp fennel seeds
  • 0.5 tsp cumin seeds
  • 0.5 tsp smoked paprika
  • 1 tblsp tomato purée
  • 1 x 400g tin tomatoes, chopped
  • 0.5 tsp salt or to taste
  • 2 tblsp vodka (optional)
  • freshly ground black pepper
  • chopped fresh basil to garnish (optional)
  • grated parmesan to garnish (optional)

The Steps:

  • If using dried beans and you haven’t had time enough to soak them overnight, you can quick-soak them as follows: cover with several inches of cold water, bring to the boil and boil rapidly for about 2 minutes, then remove from the heat and allow to soak for at least an hour in the heated water.
  • Drain the soaked beans, put into a heavy saucepan with about 1 litre of fresh water. Bring up to the boil, then simmer, partially covered, for about 1.5 hours or until the beans are tender. Alternatively, if you have a pressure cooker, they’ll only need about 10-12 minutes of cooking once they’ve been brought up to pressure.
  • If using tinned beans, just drain and rinse them.
  • Place a large pan over a medium heat. When hot, add enough oil to coat the pan.
  • Add the onions to the pan. Stir and fry for around 4-5 minutes, until they start to soften. Add the garlic and stir and fry for about a minute more.
  • Lightly crush the fennel and cumin seeds and add to the pan along with smoked paprika. Stir briefly then add the tomato purée and stir to mix.
  • Add the tinned tomatoes, salt and vodka (if using). Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, for about 10 minutes.
  • Add the beans, bring back to a simmer and cook for about 5 minutes more. Add black pepper and additional salt to taste. Serve on toast if you like or as a sauce for pasta, with chopped basil leaves and some grated parmesan if you fancy.

The Variations:

  • You could certainly add some chorizo or other cooked sausage to this if you were that way inclined.

The Results:

  • Makes 2 generous helpings