Stock your pantry with canned beans! Garbanzo, kidney, black, cannelini, white beans and more! They are so versatile. Add them to salads, soups, on top of toast, whipped into dips, tossed with pasta. In fact, we should be aiming to eat 3 cups of beans (legumes) each week!
I understand that beans might not seem very exciting and not always friendly to our stomachs (the key is to add them gradually to your diet) but their benefits are HUGE! Budget-friendly, shelf stable, protein-rich, heart and gut healthy fiber, and so fast and easy! Still not convinced, I think these pizza beans will make you a bean believer!
Pizza Beans
Ingredients
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Half of a 2-ounce tin oil-packed anchovy filets (about 4-5 filets)
1 tablespoon tomato paste, preferably double-concentrated from a tube
1/2 teaspoons red pepper flakes
1 bunch fresh spinach or chopped Swiss Chard (about 4-6 cups)
Kosher salt and ground pepper
1 14-ounce can crushed tomatoes
2 15-ounce cans cannellini beans or other white beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup shredded low-moisture part-skim mozzarella cheese or fresh mozzarella
Hearty whole-grain or sourdough bread, toasted
Chopped fresh basil and Parmesan cheese for topping, if desired
Directions
- Cook garlic and olive oil in a large ovenproof skillet over medium heat. Cook for 1 minute, don’t let the garlic burn. Add anchovies, tomato paste, and red pepper flakes. Stiring with a wooden spoon until tomato paste is darkened and anchovies have dissolved into the mixture, about 2 minutes.
- Add the tomatoes and cook until the sauce thickens, about 5 minutes. Add the spinach and cook until spinach had wilted.
- Add the beans and salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a simmer and cook for another 3-4 minutes.
- Heat broiler. Sprinkle mozzarella cheese over the top of the beans. Transfer skillet to oven and broil until cheese melts and begins to brown in spots. Watch carefully so it doesn’t burn. It will only take a few minutes. Sprinkle with chopped basil and Parmesan cheese, if desired.
- Serve beans over toasted whole grain or sourdough bread or cut the toast into thick strips and use them to dip into the beans.
Recipe adapted from Bon Appetit.
judymatusky.com
What a pot full of delicious and healthful!
Thank you!