Cannellini Bean Gratin

At one of my favorite restaurants in SF, Nopa, they serve the most delicious baked white beans, topped with feta, herbs and breadcrumbs. It comes warm and sizzling in a skillet: crispy from the breadcrumbs, creamy from the beans, and with a little bit of bite from the feta.

Since we’re far far away from Nopa now, I was determined to try to recreate their “Wood Baked Giant White Beans” at home.

And when I came across this recipe from Vegetarian Times, I knew I had found the inspiration I was looking for! You can make it with dried beans but I chose to do it with canned to save on time – it still tasted delicious.

You can use any kind of cheese you like for this, I chose Parmesan because I absolutely love the way it tastes when it’s baked in the oven. This recipe makes 12 enormous servings, and it also freezes really well so you can always make a big batch and freeze half of it for another day.

The husband loved this recipe and I thought it completely took me back to eating those giant white beans at Nopa.

The Ingredients

Adapted from Vegetarian Times

• 3 (15oz) cans cannellini beans
• 1.5 tbsp chopped fresh thyme
• 3 tbsp chopped fresh parsley, divided
• 1 large red onion, diced (2 cups)
• ½ large or 1 medium fennel bulb, bulb quartered and diced (2 cups)
• 8 cloves garlic minced
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 2 cups diced carrots
• 1.25 cups coarsely grated Parmesan cheese, divided
• 1/2 cup fresh whole wheat panko breadcrumbs
• salt & pepper to taste
• 1.5-2 cups broth
• 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper

The Directions

Step 1: Chop all of your veggies. Saute the onion, garlic, carrots, fennel, thyme and 1 tbsp parsley in a large pan with 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil.

Step 2: Add the beans, thyme, 1/2 cup cheese, 1.5-2 cups broth (if needed), crushed red pepper, and salt and pepper to taste.

Step 3: Let the mixture cook for 10-15 minutes until warmed through. Meanwhile, combine breadcrumbs, remaining chopped parsley, and remaining cheese in small bowl. Drizzle remaining 1 tbsp olive oil into crumb mixture, and combine to moisten breadcrumbs.

Step 4: Spray an oven safe casserole dish with olive oil cooking spray. Pour mixture into the dish.

Step 5: Sprinkle breadcrumbs over the top of the casserole and bake in a 400 degree oven, uncovered for 15-20 minutes until the breadcrumbs have browned.

When it’s done, it will look like this:

How good does that look? And the best part is: you can enjoy a huge serving of this for only about 200 calories. It will keep you full and satisfied forever – and it will feel totally decadent but it is so good for you! (shhh don’t tell anyone 🙂 ).

I hope you like this dish as much as we did!