Place the Pasta Filling on the Beans
An old large pot of beans simmered in a flavorful liquid is a pretty solid building block for any meal plan. Beans are filling and cheap, but no matter how much you like a particular bean, bean fatigue can begin after the third cup. But there is a very easy way to decorate your next plate of beans – just treat them like pasta.
If you can mix it with the pasta, you can pour it over the beans. Bright tomato sauces, rich creamy sauces, and anything in between can make the beans sing. If you’re trying to change your eating habits after a month and a half of pure celebration, a plate of cacio e pepe beans seems a little healthier than a plate of pasta, but you can still eat a lot of pecorino.
When it comes to pairings of sauces, each bean lends its own character to the dish and there really aren’t any bad combinations. A fried tomato sauce checkbox will play very differently than a garbanzo or a giant royal crown (the absolute unit of white beans), but it will be fine. Even the creamy lima beans – an unfairly maligned legume – are delicious with a sauce like this.
If you find it difficult to choose beans for the sauce, start with cannellini. Plain white beans are native to Italy and go great with any sauce you add. If you want to taste bolder beans, start with simple tomato sauce or the aforementioned cacio e pepe, notice how the flavors interact with the sauce, and then move on to bolder sauces like vodka sauce, carbonara, pesto, or a combination of sardines, breadcrumbs. rusks, fennel and raisins, which you will find in con le sarde pasta . I personally look forward to trying the black eyed pea puttanescu as I think the green beans can stand in a bowl of garlic, capers, and anchovies.
If your sauce requires water for your pasta, don’t worry – beans are also high in starch (and more flavor) and can be used as a silky emulsifying liquid. If you need some starchy flour , you can throw in some semolina flour , but there is nothing wrong with a bean broth bowl.