Giant White Beans with Tomato Confit
Giant White Beans with Tomato Confit
I like big beans and I cannot lie
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CATCH UP!
Life updates: Life right now = a very full plate. Grant likes to tell me that I have this problem where I’m really bored and get antsy and want to do all the things, but then I end up overcommitting and feeling really busy. He’s probably right. I think I prefer the busyness, though, to the quiet. I’ve always had this issue where I feel like I need to be doing things, whether it’s creating, spending time with friends, planning a trip or working on my own projects. It’s what fulfills me, and while I could definitely work on the balance, I do feel happier when my life feels full, even if it means I get a little overwhelmed at times.
So what am I doing right now? House hunting. I’m getting antsier and antsier by the day to get out of my parents’ house and have our own space, especially since we are getting married next year, and I miss my independence and the small things like waking up in the morning and making matcha in my own kitchen. And yea, we are getting married next year, so I’m working on some wedding planning. I’ve talked about this before, but we aren’t doing a traditional wedding (private ceremony, more informal party afterward), so it makes planning easier, but damn is it still work! I am grateful every day I’m not doing the real thing lol.
I haven’t been the best at writing my novel as regularly with everything else that has been going on, but I actually wrote a good bit on my plane rides back and forth to New York. I’m also anxious to finish that, but it has been hard fitting it in with the house hunt/wedding stuff taking up a good bit of my free time.
Andddd to add some more to the mix: We booked a trip to Italy next month! We found a stellar deal on some round-trip tickets (like, absurdly cheap), and booked it spontaneously. In 5 days, I had the trip planned and accommodations locked down. I am SO excited. Because of COVID, Grant and I haven’t done any international travel together yet. As someone who is known to book a trip on a whim (ahem), and someone who was used to traveling very regularly pre-pandemic, I’m looking forward to sharing this experience with Grant.
Wow, long life update today! All good things. I feel grateful amidst all of this because even though I’m busy, they’re all exciting things that make me feel positive about the future. Phew. Anyway, onto the food stuff!!
Recipe I’m Loving: I know I have pasta lovers up in my here!! My friend Jane from Foods of Jane posted a recipe that seemed to break the internet. Once I buy some burrata at the store, I’m going to try this sexxxy looking dish: Caramelized Onion Goat Cheese Rigatoni with Crispy Prosciutto and Burrata Cheese.
RECIPE!
I’ve done enough blabbing today, so I’m going to get straight to the point! I love beans (we all know that), I love roasted tomatoes (we all know that), so I’m just combining it all for a simple, end-of-summer dish! I used Rancho Gordo Royal Corona Beans here, but any large bean, such as a gigante bean, or any white bean really, can work here! In fact, feel free to experiment beyond white beans, too.
Giant White Beans with Tomato Confit
Ingredients (serves 4)
1/2 pound dried Royal Corona or Gigante Beans
20 oz cherry tomatoes
4 large cloves garlic, crushed or finely minced
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp thinly sliced basil
A sprinkle of fresh thyme
Salt and pepper, to taste
Optional: Shaved Pecorino Romano, to top
1. Preheat oven to 300 F. Prepare the beans by adding them to a large pot and covering them with a few inches of water. Add a generous drizzle of olive oil. Bring to a boil for 5 minutes, then reduce heat, simmer, and cook until beans are soft and cooked through (about 2+ hours for me).
2. While the beans are cooking, add cherry tomatoes to a baking dish along with crushed garlic, olive oil, and a pinch of salt. Mix the tomatoes together so they’re coated in the olive oil, and bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes.
3. When beans are finished, taste, and season with salt to your liking. To serve, add them to a bowl along with a portion of the tomato confit. I like to spoon some of the oil over the beans as well. Add the shaved pecorino, if desired, and top with fresh basil and a little sprinkle of fresh thyme. Finish off some black pepper, if desired.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT!
Do you ever try to make a runny egg, only for the bottom of the egg to stick to the pan so stubbornly that when you try to pry it free, the yolk bursts onto the pan, cooking quickly before you can stop it? You can avoid this disaster by following my step-by-step instructions in last week’s paid newsletter, “The Secret To Perfect Eggs.” I’ve got you covered with some hot tips not only for fried eggs, but poached, soft boiled, and soft-scrambled.
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