Proper beans on toast
White beans simmered in a sweet, smoky tomato sauce and piled onto buttery toast with a snowfall of cheddar, the British comfort dinner that’s much better homemade.
- 20 min total
- 15 min hands-on
- Anyone can make this
- Serves 2
- About $1.80 a serving
- 640 calories
- Vegetarian
Dolly says: I’d make this on a weeknight. It’s on the table in 20 minutes.
Ingredients
For 2 servings.
- 1 can tomato sauce, 8 oz
- 1 can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
- 4 slices sourdough bread
- 2 tbsp butter, softened
- ½ cup cheddar cheese, grated (optional)
From your pantry
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- ½ tsp onion powder
- ½ tsp smoked paprika
- ¼ cup water
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 tsp soy sauce
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp black pepper
Each serving has about 640 calories, 24 g protein, 92 g carbs and 21 g fat, and costs about $1.80 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No tomato sauce? Crushed tomatoes work.
- No sourdough bread? French bread or white bread or whole wheat bread works.
- No butter? Ghee works.
- No cheddar cheese? Shredded cheddar or monterey jack cheese or mexican blend cheese works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
Heat the oil in a small over medium heat. Stir in the onion powder and smoked paprika for a few seconds.
Saucepan. A saucepan is a pot with tall, straight sides and one long handle. It’s for things that need depth, like rice, sauces or a few boiled eggs.
How you’ll know: The food fills it about halfway, leaving room to bubble without spilling over.
Medium heat
Add the tomato sauce, water, brown sugar, vinegar and soy sauce and .
Simmer. Simmering means keeping a liquid just below a boil, with small bubbles rising gently. It cooks food evenly and lets a sauce thicken without scorching on the bottom.
How you’ll know: Small, lazy bubbles break the surface every second or so, and nothing is churning.
Medium heat
Stir in the beans, salt and pepper, turn the heat to low, and 8 to 10 minutes, stirring now and then, until the sauce is thick and glossy.
Simmer. Simmering means keeping a liquid just below a boil, with small bubbles rising gently. It cooks food evenly and lets a sauce thicken without scorching on the bottom.
How you’ll know: Small, lazy bubbles break the surface every second or so, and nothing is churning.
Low heatTimer: 9 min
Dolly’s tip: Squash a few beans with your spoon. They thicken the sauce and help it cling.While the beans simmer, toast the bread until deep and spread it with the butter.
Golden brown. Golden brown is the color of good toast, somewhere between yellow and light brown. It means the outside is cooked and crisp but not burnt.
How you’ll know: It looks like toast and smells toasty; dark brown with a bitter smell means it went too far.
Pile the beans onto the hot toast and scatter the cheddar on top so it a little.
Melt. Melting means gently heating something solid, like butter or cheese, until it turns liquid. Low or medium heat keeps it from browning or burning.
How you’ll know: It’s smooth and liquid, and butter may foam a little but hasn’t turned brown.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
