Braised White Beans with Leek and Stracciatella
Warm, comforting and super nutritious, these braised white beans are the perfect winter weeknight meal!
With tender leeks and a super green sauce, this veggie-packed dish is the perfect pick-me-up to fuel you through the rest of your week. Served up with creamy stracciatella and toasted sourdough, this recipe is going to be your new fave way to eat your greens!
Nourishing and delish!
White Beans
White beans are fab little legumes, serving up plant-based protein, fibre and minerals like potassium and magnesium. They contain a type of fibre called resistant starch, which helps to support your gut health by feeding the microbiome in your large intestine. Go beans!
Kale and Basil
We love our dark, leafy greens and herbs for delivering stacks of vitamins, minerals, and compounds called phytochemicals, which help to support our immune system in reducing inflammation in our body. This is great for when we’re feeling a little under the weather or run down, as the nutritive support can be great for our bodies.
Vegetarian and Delish!
Replacing some of your meaty meals with plant-based alternatives can be a great way to increase vegetable consumption and reduce your intake of saturated fat, which is wonderful for supporting heart health as well as general wellbeing.
More Delish Recipe Ideas
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More Delish Recipe Ideas 〰️
Recipe Variations
If you can’t source stracciatella, goat cheese is great alternative for this dish! Or make it vegan by using your favourite plant-based cheese alternative.
The green sauce that we make for the base of this dish is also wonderful as a pasta sauce! I like to add a tablespoon of creme fraiche, before stirring it through cooked pasta with peas and extra parmesan.
Braised White Beans with Leek and Kale
Ingredients
- 6 large stems curly kale
- 1 bunch basil
- 2 garlic cloves
- Zest and juice of 1 large lemon
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/3 cup pecorino or parmesan, grated
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 1/4 cup water
- 1 large leek, white section only
- 30g butter
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 x tins cannellini white beans
- Salt and pepper
- 150g stracciatella, to serve
- 1/3 cup pine nuts, to serve
- Sourdough, to serve
Instructions
- Place a large pot of water onto the heat and bring to a gentle boil. Prepare a large bowl of iced water and set aside.
- Strip the kale leaves from the stem by inverting the stem and pulling downwards to remove the leaf.
- Pick the basil leaves from the stems. Wash the kale and basil leaves thoroughly.
- Blanch the kale + basil leaves in the boiling water for 30 seconds. Remove from the pot and plunge straight into the iced water to stop the cooking.
- Squeeze any excess water out of the leaves, then add them to a blender with the rest of the ingredients for the green sauce.
- Blitz the sauce until completely smooth.
- Note: This recipe makes enough green sauce for 2 batches. You can freeze the remaining green sauce for another time, or turn it into a pasta sauce by adding 1 tablespoon of creme fraiche.
- Slice the leek in half lengthways and gently wash to remove any sand or dirt that may be hiding in the leek’s layers.
- Place the leek pieces flat-side down on a chopping board. Roughly slice along the leek, cutting into semi-circles.
- Place a large pot onto a medium heat, then add the butter. When the butter starts to foam, add the olive oil and stir. This helps to prevent the butter from burning.
- Add the leeks to the pot with a generous pinch of salt. Stir everything together and let the leeks cook down for 1-2 minutes, stirring frequently.
- When the leeks start to soften, reduce the heat to low and place a lid on the pot. Allow the leeks to cook slowly until tender, 5-6 minutes. Check the leeks intermittently, giving them a little stir and making sure they aren’t burning.
- Once the leeks are soft and lush, pour in half of the green sauce prepared earlier and stir to combine. Return the pot to a medium heat, then cook until the sauce begins to simmer, 2-3 minutes.
- Drain and rinse the tinned beans, then add to the pot. Stir together, then cover with a lit and gently simmer on a low heat for 10-15 minutes.
- While the beans are cooking, place the pine nuts into a dry pan and place on to a low heat. Toast the pine nuts, shuffling the pan intermittently, until the nuts are fragrant and golden.
- Toast the sourdough pieces to serve alongside the beans.
- To serve, distribute the beans into serving bowls. Top with stracciatella, a generous drizzle of olive oil and cracked black pepper before sprinkling over the pine nuts. Serve with bread and enjoy!
