This is a recipe for a basic spanish/Catalonian-type bean dish, a variant of one I saw in a cookbook and did my own version of (mostly to make it simpler and easier). It’s not perfect, but it came out darn good the first time – more below.
Catalan-Style Beans
- 2 tbsp Olive oil
- 4 large tomatoes, diced
- 1 bell pepper, dices
- 1 1/2 tbsp crushed garlic (about 4 big cloves)
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
- 1/4 tsp ground thyme
- generous pinch cinnamon
- 3 cups (2 cans) of white beans or garbanzos, low-sodium
- Preheat oven to 375.
- Mix all ingredients except beans in a skillet. Sautee for 3 minutes to allow blend, cover, lower heat. Cook 10 minutes, simmering.
- Place beans on bottom of a 2 quart baking dish, spread out evenly.
- Cover beans with tomato mixture.
- Place in oven, cook uncovered for 1 hour, stirring every 20 minutes.
- Serve.
This freeze and reheats well – in fact the flavor may improve after a bit of reheating – don’t overdo reheating it, the beans can get a bit soft if you use navy beans.
This recipe was pretty good the first time, with a simple flavor, nice fragrance, a bit of a zippy kick from the tomatoes and garlic. A nice, light main course. It needs some tweaking – the flavor could use a bit of depth and I think there may have been a bit much liquid – but it’s one of those recipes where the first time showed there’s something to this.
Improvement-wise I’m thinking of: less olive oil, uncovering the mix during the simmer phase to reduce fluid, and cooking at a slightly lower temperature. I have also tried it with paprika (not sure) and some red pepper (which was good).
Also it’s easy to make after the initial sautee-and-simmer, since it basically sits in the oven for an hour with an occasional stir!
Serving-wise I’ve had it with polenta, steamed garlic, and vinegared turnips. Despite its kick, it works with vinegared food and other sours, and I think it goes good with greens. The polenta worked due to sweetness, so it’d also probably go good with corn, peas, rice, and bread.
Steven Savage is a Geek 2.0 writer, speaker, blogger, and job coach. He blogs on careers at http://www.musehack.com/, publishes books on career and culture at http://www.informotron.com/, and does a site of creative tools at http://www.seventhsanctum.com/. He can be reached at https://www.stevensavage.com/.