Tuscan Stewed Beans
These Tuscan Stewed Beans are the ultimate rustic Italian comfort food! Made with simple pantry-friendly ingredients like onions, garlic, tomato paste and white beans, but big on gourmet Italian flavor. It's cozy and indulgent yet wholesome, vegan, and gluten-free.
- Prep time
- 15 min
- Cook time
- 1 hr
- Yield
- 4 servings
- Difficulty
- HARD
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup (56 mL) extra virgin olive oil
- 1 medium yellow onion, (chopped)
- 2 medium or large carrots, (peeled and finely chopped)
- 2 celery ribs, (diced)
- 4 garlic cloves, (finely chopped)
- 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
- 1/4 cup (4g) flat-leaf parsley leaves and tender stems, (minced)
- 1 tbsp minced fresh sage
- 4+1/2 tbsp (67g) tomato paste ((in a tube, not a can)*)
- 3/4 cup (180 mL) dry white wine**
- 1 28-ounce (800g) can whole peeled tomatoes, ( crushed by hand)
- 1 tsp kosher salt, (plus more to taste)
- Freshly cracked black pepper
- 1 bay leaf
- 1+1/2 cup (360 mL) vegetable broth, plus more as desired
- 2 (15-ounce/425g) cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
- 1/2 cup (8g) fresh basil, (slivered***)
Instructions
- 1
Heat the olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Once the oil is hot, add the onion, and season with a pinch or two of salt and pepper. Cook for 7 to 8 minutes, until golden, stirring occasionally. Add in the carrot, celery, and garlic, with another pinch of salt and cook for 3 to 4 minutes. Add the red pepper flakes, parsley, and sage and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.
- 2
Add the tomato paste and cook, stirring almost continuously, for 1 to 2 minutes, until it's a bit darker in color.
- 3
Pour the white wine in and deglaze the pan, scraping up any browned bits stuck to the bottom of the pot. Allow wine to simmer rapidly for 3 minutes, or until mostly evaporated and it no longer smells like wine, stirring often.
- 4
Add tomatoes along with their juices, bay leaf, 1 teaspoon kosher salt, and several cracks of black pepper. Cook at a rapid simmer, stirring fairly often, until the tomatoes are fully broken down and most of the liquid has evaporated, 12 to 13 minutes.
- 5
Add the veggie broth and 2 cans of beans. Reduce the heat to low, cover the pan, and maintain a decent simmer for 30 minutes, stirring once in a while. If you want the stew to be thicker, towards the end of cooking, use the back of a wooden spoon or a spatula to gently smash a small portion of the beans.
- 6
Taste, adding a pinch of sugar if needed (if your tomatoes are good-quality, it should not be necessary). Remove the bay leaf. Finish with chopped basil. Season to taste, adding salt and pepper as needed.