Tuscan White Beans with Garlic, Sage and Tomato

Name: Tuscan White Beans with Garlic, Sage and Tomato
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 35 min
Cuisine: Italy
Ingredients: 5 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra to finish; 4 cloves garlic, lightly crushed; 10 sage leaves; ¼ tsp dried chili flakes; 400 g (14 oz) canned chopped tomatoes or passata; 3 cans (3 × 15 oz) cannellini beans, 3 × 400 g, drained, liquid reserved; or 750 g home-cooked; 150 ml (⅔ cup) bean liquid or water; 5 g (¾ tsp) fine sea salt, plus more to taste; black pepper; 4 slices country bread, toasted and rubbed with garlic, to serve

Creamy beans, a little tomato and bread for mopping

Serves: 4
Hands-on: 15 min
Total: 35 min
Level: Easy

Tuscans are famous bean eaters, and this simple dish — fagioli all'uccelletto — cooks white beans gently with garlic, sage and tomato until creamy. It is a side, a main with bread, or the start of a soup. Canned beans work, but dried beans cooked yourself are a revelation.

Ingredients

5 tbspextra-virgin olive oilplus extra to finish
4 clovesgarliclightly crushed
10sage leaves
¼ tspdried chili flakes
400 gcanned chopped tomatoes or passata (14 oz)
3 canscannellini beans (3 × 15 oz)3 × 400 g, drained, liquid reserved; or 750 g home-cooked
150 mlbean liquid or water (⅔ cup)
5 gfine sea salt (¾ tsp)plus more to taste
black pepper
4 slicescountry breadtoasted and rubbed with garlic, to serve

Diet: Vegan, Vegetarian, Dairy-free
Allergens: gluten
Origin: Italy (Tuscany)

Method

Warm the oil, garlic, sage and chili in a wide pan over medium-low heat until the garlic is golden and the sage crisp, 4–5 minutes. Lift out a few sage leaves for the top. 5 min
Add the tomatoes and simmer 5 minutes until slightly thickened. 5 min
Add the beans, bean liquid and salt. Simmer gently, stirring occasionally, until the sauce is creamy and the beans are soaked in flavor, 15 minutes. Mash a few beans against the pan to thicken. 15 min
Taste for salt, season with pepper and finish with a generous pour of olive oil and the crisp sage. Serve with the garlic toast.

Why it works

Bean cooking liquid is full of dissolved starch, which thickens the sauce and makes it creamy without dairy. Gently frying sage and garlic flavors the oil, which then carries their flavor through the dish.

Common mistakes

Boiling hard: the beans burst and turn grainy. Keep it at a gentle simmer.

Variations

From dried beans: Soak 300 g dried cannellini overnight, then simmer with 2 garlic cloves, a sage sprig and 2 tbsp olive oil in water to cover by 5 cm for 1–1½ hours until creamy; salt (10 g) for the last 20 minutes.
With sausage: Brown 4 Italian sausages, sliced, and add with the beans.

Make ahead and storage

Keeps 4 days in the fridge; better the next day.

Notes

Without the bread, the dish is gluten-free.