At one of my favorite restaurants in SF, Nopa, they serve the most delicious baked white beans, topped with feta, herbs and breadcrumbs. It comes warm and sizzling in a skillet: crispy from the breadcrumbs, creamy from the beans, and with a little bit of bite from the feta.
Since we're far far away from Nopa now, I was determined to try to recreate their "Wood Baked Giant White Beans" at home.
And when I came across this recipe from Vegetarian Times, I knew I had found the inspiration I was looking for! You can make it with dried beans but I chose to do it with canned to save on time - it still tasted delicious.
You can use any kind of cheese you like for this, I chose Parmesan because I absolutely love the way it tastes when it's baked in the oven. This recipe makes 12 enormous servings, and it also freezes really well so you can always make a big batch and freeze half of it for another day.
The husband loved this recipe and I thought it completely took me back to eating those giant white beans at Nopa.
The Ingredients Adapted from Vegetarian Times- 3 (15oz) cans cannellini beans
- 1.5 tbsp chopped fresh thyme
- 3 tbsp chopped fresh parsley, divided
- 1 large red onion, diced (2 cups)
- ½ large or 1 medium fennel bulb, bulb quartered and diced (2 cups)
- 8 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 2 cups diced carrots
- 1.25 cups coarsely grated Parmesan cheese, divided
- 1/2 cup fresh whole wheat panko breadcrumbs
- salt & pepper to taste
- 1.5-2 cups broth
- 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
Step 1: Chop all of your veggies. Saute the onion, garlic, carrots, fennel, thyme and 1 tbsp parsley in a large pan with 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil.
Step 2: Add the beans, thyme, 1/2 cup cheese, 1.5-2 cups broth (if needed), crushed red pepper, and salt and pepper to taste.
Step 3: Let the mixture cook for 10-15 minutes until warmed through. Meanwhile, combine breadcrumbs, remaining chopped parsley, and remaining cheese in small bowl. Drizzle remaining 1 tbsp olive oil into crumb mixture, and combine to moisten breadcrumbs.
Step 4: Spray an oven safe casserole dish with olive oil cooking spray. Pour mixture into the dish.
Step 5: Sprinkle breadcrumbs over the top of the casserole and bake in a 400 degree oven, uncovered for 15-20 minutes until the breadcrumbs have browned.
When it's done, it will look like this:
How good does that look? And the best part is: you can enjoy a huge serving of this for only about 200 calories. It will keep you full and satisfied forever - and it will feel totally decadent but it is so good for you! (shhh don't tell anyone
I hope you like this dish as much as we did!
Ingredients
Directions
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