Cheesy White Bean-Tomato Bake

By Ali Slagle

Published March 19, 2023

Cheesy White Bean-Tomato Bake
John Kernick for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.
Total Time
15 minutes
Rating
5(16,803)
Comments
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For those of you who love lasagna's edges, where sticky tomato meets crisp cheese, this whole dish is for you — even the middle. A tube of tomato paste here mimics the deep flavors of sun-dried tomato. Frying a few generous squeezes caramelizes the tomato's sugars and saturates the olive oil, making a mixture that's ready to glom onto anything you stir through it. Here, it’s white beans, though you could add in kale, noodles, even roasted vegetables. Then, all that’s left to do is dot it with cheese and bake until it’s as molten or singed as you like. Serve with bread and a bitter-green salad.

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Ingredients

Yield:4 servings
  • ¼cup extra-virgin olive oil
  • 3fat garlic cloves, thinly sliced
  • 3tablespoons tomato paste
  • 2(15-ounce) cans white beans (such as cannellini or Great Northern) or chickpeas, drained and rinsed
  • ½cup boiling water
  • Salt and black pepper
  • ⅓pound mozzarella, coarsely grated (about 1⅓ cups)
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)

489 calories; 22 grams fat; 7 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 12 grams monounsaturated fat; 2 grams polyunsaturated fat; 50 grams carbohydrates; 11 grams dietary fiber; 2 grams sugars; 24 grams protein; 1001 milligrams sodium

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.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Heat oven to 475 degrees. In a 10-inch ovenproof skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-high. Fry the garlic until it’s lightly golden, about 1 minute. Stir in the tomato paste (be careful of splattering) and fry for 30 seconds, reducing the heat as needed to prevent the garlic from burning.

  2. Step 2

    Add the beans, water and generous pinches of salt and pepper and stir to combine. Sprinkle the cheese evenly over the top, then bake until the cheese has melted and browned in spots, 5 to 10 minutes. If the top is not as toasted as you’d like, run the skillet under the broiler for a minute or 2. Serve at once.

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Ratings

5 out of 5
16,803 user ratings
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Comments

Barb Cone

It’s so worth it in a recipe where beans are the major ingredient, to use dried beans instead of canned one. Dried beans have a lovely firm texture and great taste. Buy some dried beans, rinse and dump what you need for your recipe into big saucepan of cold water and let sit overnight. Drain the water, add fresh water and simmer until tender. If you find you have a few too many cooked beans, you can freeze the extra in baggies to add to soups, chili etc.

mrs_garver

I doubled the tomato paste and garlic and added a chopped yellow onion, drained/chopped San Marzano tomatoes, oregano, and red pepper flakes. Delicious!

meghan

Would recommend upping the amount of tomato paste slightly to enhance the flavor!

Kat Zen

I gave this 4 *s because it was OK as is, but then made it again incorporating a bunch of the suggestions and really, really liked it. We increased the garlic and tomato paste, used dried beans, subbed red wine for the water, added 2 Tbsp of fresh rosemary and sprinkled parmesan on top to give the crust a little more crunch. It was slightly dry, so next time we will also add a can of diced tomatoes.

Sonia

Fresh parsley sprinkled on top makes it look lovely to serve kids or guests. Really simple recipe that can be used as an appetizer with sliced toast or breakfast with eggs.

Super modular

Didn’t have white beans, used chick peas. Had some leftover kale and ricotta, added those too. Popped in a load of crushed fennel seeds and oregano and the dish disappeared. This recipe is a sponge for (the right) ingredients and more filling than you’d anticipate. If you’re really vs plugged in, go stupid with the olive oil.

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