Smitten Kitchen’s Pizza Beans

🥘 Ingredients

• beans (cooked tender-firm giant white, 455g)
  1 pound
• broth (up to 3/4 cup vegetable, 175 ml)
• carrots (large, or 2 regular carrots, diced)
  1
• celery (diced)
  2 stalks
• garlic (cloves, large, minced)
  2
• mozzarella (225g, coarsely grated)
  1/2 pound
• olive oil (30ml)
  2 tbsp
• onion (large, chopped)
  1
• parmesan (grated, 35g)
  1/3 cup
• parsley (roughly chopped fresh flat, 5g, for garnish) (optional)
  2 tbsp
• pepper (freshly ground black, or red pepper flakes)
• salt
• tomatoes (crushed, 550g, 28-ounce or 800g can minus 1 cup; reserve the rest for another use)
  2 1/4 cups
• wine (dry white or red, 60ml) (optional)
  1/4 cup

🍳 Cookware

• pan
• dutch oven
• baking dish

1. 1

   Prepare the beans * and vegetables Heat the oven to 475 degrees. In a 21/2-to-3-quart (ideally oven-safe) deep sauté pan , braiser, or shallow dutch oven , heat the olive oil on medium-high. Add the onion , celery , and carrots .

   beans: 1 pound (cooked tender-firm giant white, 455g), olive oil: 2 tbsp (30ml), onion: 1 (large, chopped), celery: 2 stalks (diced), carrots: 1 (large, or 2 regular carrots, diced)
2. 2

   Season well with salt and black or red pepper . Cook, sautéing, until the vegetables brown lightly, about ⏱️ 10 minutes . Add the garlic , and cook for ⏱️ 1 minute more. Add the wine , if using, to scrape up any stuck bits, then simmer until it disappears, ⏱️ 1-2 minutes . Add the kale, and cook for ⏱️ 1-2 minutes , until collapsed, then add the tomatoes and bring to a simmer. Add the beans, and, if the mixture looks too dry or thick (canned tomatoes range quite a bit in juiciness), add up to 3/4 cup broth , 1/4 cup at a time. Simmer the mixture together over medium for about ⏱️ 10 minutes , adjusting the seasonings as needed. If your pan isn’t ovenproof, transfer the mixture to a 3-quart baking dish . If it is, well, carry on.

   salt, pepper (freshly ground black, or red pepper flakes), garlic: 2 (cloves, large, minced), wine: 1/4 cup (dry white or red, 60ml), tomatoes: 2 1/4 cups (crushed, 550g, 28-ounce or 800g can minus 1 cup; reserve the rest for another use), broth (up to 3/4 cup vegetable, 175 ml)
3. 3

   Sprinkle the beans first with the mozzarella , then the parmesan , and bake for ⏱️ 10-15 minutes , until browned on top. If you’re impatient and want a deeper colour, you can run it under the broiler. Finish with parsley , if desired.

   mozzarella: 1/2 pound (225g, coarsely grated), parmesan: 1/3 cup (grated, 35g), parsley: 2 tbsp (roughly chopped fresh flat, 5g, for garnish)
4. 📝

   *Bean cooking note

5. 📝

   This recipe was originally designed as a long oven-braise that began with dried beans. I recommend you cook your beans in advance. Because they’re very big, I usually soak them for 12 to 24 hours in salted water, then simmer them for a couple hours; you could also use a slow cooker on high (usually 4 to 6 hours, but it will vary), or a pressure cooker (about 20 minutes, with variance), or bake them in the oven at 325 degrees for approximately 70 to 90 minutes after bringing them to a simmer on the stove.