Name: Italian Beans On Toast
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 30 min
Ingredients: 2 tbsp olive oil; 1-2 cloves of garlic (crushed but unpeeled); ½ tsp chili flakes; 1 bay leaf; ½ fennel (sliced thinly); Salt; ½ cup white wine; 1 kg fresh Borlotti beans (pulled (or canned, about 400 g)); a piece of parmesan rind you might have lying around; 2-3 cups of water; ½ lemon (juice, and zest); ½ cup parsley (thinly sliced); ½ cup basil (thinly sliced (heresy, we know)); black pepper; 3 slices of bread of choice; 1 tbsp butter; a few shavings of Provolone Piccante (currently our favorite cheese, but you can also use parmesan or pecorino)

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Beans are the best. Beans on toast are superior.

We saw these beautiful fresh Borlotti beans at the market and just had to get them, cook them, and get rid of their beauty. However, less beauty means more taste, and these beans were insanely good.

At many points, we were tempted to add more things (tomatoes? radishes? tahini?!), but we decided to stay true to our non-existing Italian roots. So the concept of less is more proved to be the clear winner.

Honestly, the idea of adding so many of the herbs started as a joke for the camera, but we recommend you do the same.

Italian beans on toast - Shemesh Kitchen

You’ll need the following ingredients to make Italian beans on toast:

2 tbsp olive oil
1-2 cloves of garlic, crushed but unpeeled
½ tsp chili flakes
1 bay leaf
½ fennel, sliced thinly
Salt
½ cup white wine
1 kg fresh Borlotti beans, pulled (or canned, about 400 g)
a piece of parmesan rind you might have lying around
2-3 cups of water
½ lemon, juice, and zest
½ cup parsley, thinly sliced
½ cup basil, thinly sliced (heresy, we know)
black pepper
3 slices of bread of choice
1 tbsp butter
a few shavings of Provolone Piccante (currently our favorite cheese, but you can also use parmesan or pecorino)

Here’s how to make the Italian beans on toast:

Place oil, garlic, chili, and bay leaf in a pan and turn on the heat. When things start to make noises and you can smell the garlic, add the fennel and some salt. Saute for about 5 minutes, occasionally stirring, taking care not to burn the garlic. When the fennel is soft and beginning to color, add the wine. Once the wine is fully reduced and the fennel is slightly caramelized, add the beans and parmesan rind and cover with water. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer gently until the beans are soft, about 20-25 minutes (or 5-7 if using canned). Towards the end, you can add the parsley and basil stalks for extra aroma.

Fish out the garlic cloves, parmesan rind, and herb stalks and transfer the beans into a bowl. Add in the lemon juice and zest, the herbs, some of the cooking liquid, and salt and pepper taste. Smash slightly using a potato masher. In the meantime, butter your bread and toast in a pan on both sides until nice and crunchy. Smear the cooked garlic onto the bread.

Generously spread the bean-herb-mash-thing on your toasts. Top with shaved Provolone Piccante, flaky salt, pepper, and some extra olive oil for good measure.

Some tips for making these Italian beans on toast:

If you can’t find Borlotti beans, use whatever white beans you can find.
You can totally use canned beans. We love canned beans. Just make sure to minimize the cooking time to 5-7 minutes)
To make these beans on toast vegan, substitute the butter with vegan butter and add some nutritional yeast when cooking the beans.