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Tuscan Baked Beans

these italian baked beans are the perfect side dish and they feed a crowd!
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Ingredients

Scale
  • 1/2 pound bacon, diced
  • 1 medium onion, diced
  • 1 stalk celery, diced
  • 2 large carrots, diced
  • 1 teaspoon oregano
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
  • 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
  • freshly ground pepper
  • 4 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 3/4 cup white wine
  • 4 15oz cans great northern beans, drained and rinsed or ,
  • 1lb bulk northern beans/navy beans (about 2 1/4 cups)*
  • 1 15oz can crushed tomatoes
  • 2 cups chicken stock (or low sodium chicken broth)
  • 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
  • 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
  • 1 cup shaved or grated parmesan cheese

Instructions

  1. *If using bulk/dry beans: measure your beans, rinse and soak overnight. When ready to cook, rinse and add 4-6 cups of water to this recipe. I start with 4-5 cups and then add if needed.
  2. Heat a large pot (I use my 7qt cast iron pot) over medium heat. Add chopped bacon and cook, stirring until crispy, for about 15 minutes. Remove bacon with a slotted spoon, leaving the “bacon grease” in the pot.
  3. Add the onion, celery and carrot to the drippings in the pot; add seasonings and cook, stirring occasionally, until the veggies are soft, for about 10minutes. Add the garlic and cook for another 30 seconds, being careful not to burn the garlic.
  4. Deglaze the pan with the white wine -fancy for: add the white wine and using a flat wooden spoon scrape the bottom of pot as the wine is boiling. Simmer until reduced by half and it thickens, about 4-5 minutes.
  5. Add beans (additional water if using bulk beans), tomatoes, and stock. Simmer until beans are soft, about 20 minutes (if using bulk beans 1.5hours-2hours).
  6. Once beans are soft, stir in lemon zest and juice. Taste beans and adjust seasoning (salt and pepper) if necessary.
  7. Remove from heat and stir in the crispy bacon. Right before serving top with parmesan and cover.

Notes

If you want to learn more about how to cook with bulk beans, I love this article. I refer to it often.

Find it online: https://www.laurafuentes.com/italian-tuscan-baked-bean-recipe/