Creamy White Beans With Herb Oil
Published September 25, 2018
Linda Xiao for The New York Times
- Total Time
- 15 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
Advertisement
Ingredients
FOR THE HERB OIL
½ cup roughly chopped chives
½ cup roughly chopped cilantro leaves and tender stems
½ cup tightly packed basil leaves
½ cup olive oil
Squeeze of lemon
Kosher salt, to taste
FOR THE BEANS
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
2 (15-ounce) cans white beans, like butter beans or cannellini, rinsed and drained
Kosher salt and black pepper
½ cup chicken stock, vegetable stock or water
Flaky salt, for serving (optional)
Nutritional analysis per serving (2 to 4 servings)
47 grams carbs; 1 milligram cholesterol; 563 calories; 25 grams monosaturated fat; 5 grams polyunsaturated fat; 5 grams saturated fat; 36 grams fat; 12 grams fiber; 723 milligrams sodium; 16 grams protein; 4 grams sugar
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Powered by
Preparation
- Step 1
Make the oil: In a food processor, combine chives, cilantro and basil, and pulse until finely chopped. Add olive oil, and pulse again until mixture is silky and emulsified. Transfer to a small bowl, stir in lemon juice and salt to taste. Set aside.
- Step 2
Prepare the beans: In a 10-inch skillet, heat olive oil over medium-low heat. Add garlic and cook until translucent, about 1 minute. Add beans to the skillet and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the flavors have melded, about 2 to 3 minutes. With the back of a spoon or spatula, smash about ⅓ to ½ cup of the beans and stir until they are incorporated into the rest of the bean mixture. A good portion of the remaining beans should maintain their structure.
- Step 3
Add stock or water and bring to a gentle simmer. Cook until sauce becomes creamy and is reduced by about about half, about 1 to 2 minutes more. Smash additional beans and add a few more tablespoons of water, if needed, to reach desired consistency and stir again to combined.
- Step 4
Transfer beans to a bowl and swirl with herb oil on top. Season with flaky salt, if desired.
Private Notes
Comments
Yes canned beans are a convenience but taking the time to cook the beans by simmering them in water for an hour or so means you do without a great deal of unwanted sodium, get much better tasting beans, and voilà, you can use the beans' cooking water as the stock. As an alternative you could cook the beans ahead and freeze them until you're ready for this dish.
I think a simple jar of good pesto (or a good pesto recipe...) would be a suitable substitute for the herb oil.
When I print a recipe, I wish I had the option of printing a picture of the prepared meal, too.
If you have surplus herbs & want to double-up the oil for other close-in use, try ATK's tip to blanch fresh unchopped leaves in boiling water for about 30 seconds. when they brighten remove to bowl of ice water, spin-dry and proceed with recipe. (probably would do the chives solo, 10 seconds) we do this blanching when dealing with prolific summer basil, always works well, & allows for batches of pesto frozen for those dark winter days.
Quintessential summer meal: herbs from the garden, a sliced tomato with olive oil, herbs and salt, broiled corn on the cob, and fresh sourdough bread. But the broth shouldn’t be optional! I made this once and thought it was amazing… the second time through I didn’t want to open a whole carton of broth and just used water. It was lackluster. Use the broth and freeze the rest for later if you don’t have a plan to use it up!
These are a fantastic meal but I wouldn’t call this a 5 star recipe without some changes. 1) this needs more seasoning. Beans are extremely bland and this needed spice. I added a spice blend to the beans while cooking. And topped them with chili crisp at the end which was a game changer. 2) I find them best eaten on toast with some shaved Parmesan on top. Just suggestions but I found them bland when made as written!