White Bean Puree with Rosemary & Garlic

White Bean Puree with Rosemary & Garlic makes a simple yet utterly delicious accompaniment to grilled or roasted meats (lamb, pork, chicken, sausages, meatballs – you name it), seafood, or vegetables. Best served warm, you’ll find so many uses for this versatile puree rich with the flavours of sauteed onion, garlic, rosemary, and a hint of lemon.

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Bean dips and purees like hummus are hugely popular. I certainly love them and have posted a number of recipes including Roasted Beetroot Hummus, Roasted Red Pepper Hummus, and Broad Bean Paté with Goats’ Cheese & Mint. What these have in common is they’re served cold. But what I’ve come to love are cosy warm bean purees.

WHITE BEAN PUREE WITH ROSEMARY & GARLIC

I first started making warm bean purees as an occasional alternative to mashed potato. But although I initially just fancied a change, I discovered that White Bean Puree with Rosemary & Garlic is something to be loved. And not just a poor substitute for Britain’s beloved mash. Smooth textured and with an intensely savoury flavour, I found myself eating bean puree with all sorts of things. Salmon, lamb chops, roasted root veg, mushrooms, sausages, meatballs, and shellfish. And, once you’ve tried it, I think you’ll find loads more ways to enjoy it too.

I always use cannellini beans for this puree as I think they’re the best flavoured white bean. But you could substitute haricot or butter beans. I like the convenience and speed of tinned beans, but feel free to soak and cook dried ones. The detailed recipe card at the end serves 2 – 3 people generously using one drained standard tin which is around 240 grams of beans. To make more, simply double everything up. The cooking time should remain the same at roughly 25 minutes.

The other ingredients you’ll need, besides the beans, salt and pepper, are:

• Olive oil. To sauté the aromatics and for flavour.
• Onion. 1 medium for background flavour.
• Garlic. Cloves from my veg box garlic are very large so 2 – 3 is enough. But add more if yours are smaller.
• Rosemary. Avoid dried rosemary in this recipe and stick to fresh for best flavour and texture.
• Stock. I prefer chicken, but you can use vegetable if preferred. Either way, make sure it isn’t too salty to start with as it’s going to be reduced.
• Lemon. Adds balancing acidity. I use just the juice but you could add the zest too for a more pronounced lemon flavour.

EASY WHITE BEAN PUREE

Start by sautéing the chopped onion in the olive oil until it’s starting to soften and take on some colour. This should take around 10 minutes. Add the garlic for the final few minutes. When the onions and garlic are done to your liking, add the beans and rosemary, stirring for a minute or two. If you want to include lemon zest, add some now.

The stock goes in next. I recommend adding just enough to cover the beans. Around 225 ml is about right, although it varies depending on the width of your pan. Now bring everything up to a boil and immediately turn down to simmer.

What we’re looking for is the beans to have cooked down a little, the onion and garlic to be soft, and the stock to have reduced to just a few tablespoons cloaking the beans. This should take around 10 minutes, after which everything will taste wonderfully of garlic and rosemary. If it looks too wet, turn up the heat and bubble vigorously for a minute or two.

To make the puree, you could go in with a stick blender and whizz everything until smooth. But I highly recommend using a slotted spoon or fine sieve to first transfer everything except the liquid to another container or goblet blender. This means you can just add as much of the cooking liquor as needed to get the right consistency.

To the beans, add a squeeze of lemon then get whizzing. Add some cooking liquor back in only if needed: the puree should be smooth but not runny. Be sure to give it a taste and add more salt, pepper, rosemary, or lemon as needed. Your White Bean Puree with Rosemary & Garlic is now ready to enjoy.

SERVING WHITE BEAN PUREE WITH ROSEMARY & GARLIC

This herby, garlicky, creamy puree works brilliantly as a base for so many good things. Full of flavour, I love to spread a generous portion over each plate and top with whatever we’re having. Further up this post you can see baked salmon with herby roasted root veg which was out of this world. Dare I say even better was that classic partner to rosemary and garlic: lamb. Here I fast-roasted local lamb chops and laid them over the puree along with roasted carrot, sweet potato, parsnip, and Brussels sprouts. Heaven!

In fact, I’d be hard pushed to think of something savoury that wouldn’t go with this fab puree. Try shellfish like pan-fried scallops or prawns, juicy pork tenderloin, sausages, crisp-skinned chicken or meatballs – see pic near the top for pork meatballs finished in rosemary butter plus a sprinkle of Parmesan.

But you don’t have to reserve quick and easy White Bean Puree with Rosemary & Garlic for main meals. Try it on toast for brunch or lunch (leftovers reheat easily in a saucepan or microwave), perhaps topped with roasted tomatoes or aubergine chunks, or peppers. Below, I made garlic-rosemary mushrooms and drizzled over a little of buttery mushroom cooking juices.

Have you made this bean puree? Do let me know in the comments how it went and what you ate with it. 

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White Bean Puree with Rosemary & Garlic

A deliciously simple puree that makes a great warm base for grilled or roasted meats (e.g. lamb, pork, chicken, sausage, meatballs) fish, and vegetables. Brilliant on toast with toppings like roasted tomatoes or mushrooms too.

Course Appetizer, Main Course, Side Dish, Lunch, Light Meal

Cuisine European

Keyword pulses, beans

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes

Total Time 35 minutes

Servings 2 - 3

Author Moorlands Eater

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 medium onion (skinned, finely chopped)
• salt and black pepper
• 3 large cloves garlic (finely chopped)
• 240 g cooked cannellini beans (approx. 1 standard tin after draining)
• 2 - 3 tsp finely chopped rosemary
• 225 - 250 ml chicken or vegetable stock
• 1 lemon (juice only or you can add some of the zest at the same time as the beans)

Instructions

1. Put the olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat.

   When hot, stir in the chopped onion and season with a pinch of salt and a grind of pepper.

   Cook, stirring often, until the onion is starting to soften and colour (approx. 10 min): add the garlic for the final 2 - 3 min. Tip: for greater depth of onion flavour you can cook longer at this stage if liked.

2. Stir in the drained cannellini beans, 2 tsp of the chopped rosemary, plus another grind of pepper and cook for another minute. Optional: add a little chopped lemon zest.

3. Stir in stock to only just cover the beans, turn up the heat and bring to a boil. Turn down to a simmer and cook (without a lid) until the onion is completely soft and the stock has reduced to just a few tablespoons coating the beans (10 - 15 min). Tip: if there's too much liquid at the end, turn the heat up and bubble vigorously for a minute or two.

4. Using a slotted spoon (or pass through a fine sieve over a jug), transfer the beans, onions etc. to a blender and squeeze in the juice of half the lemon. Whizz to a puree, adding as much of the cooking liquor as needed to get a smooth but not runny consistency.

   Taste and adjust to your liking with more salt, pepper, rosemary or lemon.

5. Best served warm, the puree can be made in advance and kept in the fridge for 2 - 3 days. Reheat gently in a saucepan or microwave. Freezing not recommended.

   Optional: sizzle a little more chopped rosemary in olive oil or butter and drizzle over the puree just before serving.

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