Creamy lemony beans with savory
Using dried beans in this recipe is it much more economical
and
the taste and texture are so much better than the tinned variety.
This warm and creamy dish is great with salmon or any other fish.
Serves 2 – 3
- 250 g white beans – haricot, butter, cannellini
whichever you prefer - 1 tbs olive oil
- 1 large onion – finely chopped
- 2 sticks of celery — finely chopped
- 4 sprigs winter savory — finely chopped
- 450 ml vegetable stock
- 3 tbs lemon juice
- 2 tbs crème fraiche
- 50 g grated cheese
To garnish:
- Chopped parsley
- Grated or shaved cheese
Plan ahead and put the beans to soak the night before in plenty of cold water.
When you are ready to cook, drain the beans, cover with fresh water and bring to the boil.
After 10 minutes boiling turn down to a low simmer for 20 minutes then drain well.
Meanwhile heat the oil in a medium sized pan and sauté the onion and celery until softened but not brown.
Stir in the savory and beans with enough of the stock to just cover.
Cover the pan and simmer until the beans are nice and soft, this can take from 30 minutes to an hour depending on the type
and age of the beans that you used.
Keep an eye on the beans, if they absorb all of the stock add a little more.
There should not be much liquid left in the pan when the beans are cooked,
if it is still a bit too
moist then cook for another 15 minutes with the lid off of the pan.
Stir in the lemon juice, crème fraiche and grated cheese, and add salt and pepper to taste.
Spoon into a serving dish and garnish with more cheese and the chopped parsley before serving.
If you forget to soak the beans then use 2 x 400 g cans of pre-cooked ones, just rinse them well to
freshen them up and reduce the amount of stock to 150 ml. The cooking time after adding the beans
will only be 15 minutes, just enough for the flavours to mingle.