Baked cannellini beans

I was saying recently that I rarely buy cookbooks in London, but in fact on the day I bought 'Beef', my parents also bought us The London Cookbook as a present, so it was a two-cookbook day. Bit naughty!

I think this will be a great book though - a souvenir of our time (i.e. eating) in London, plus some interesting new London foodie things to do as well as a lot of great recipes. One of the things that immediately caught my eye was the Baked Cannellini Beans.

Last year, I did something I rarely do. I made up my own recipe for homemade baked beans. They were really good. Unfortunately, I didn't write down what I did and now those beans have become the stuff of legend that no beans can compete with.


The Baked Cannellini Beans from The London Cookbook were really tasty served with toasted turkish bread, but did need lots of seasoning. I think maybe more bacon next time and perhaps served with sausages or pork chops would be good.

Baked Cannellini Beans (From The London Cookbook)
Serves 6-8

350g dried cannellini beans, soaked in cold water overnight
2-3 sage leaves
2 tbsp olive oil
1 bay leaf
a strip of pancetta, rind trimmed, chopped into small chunks (I used 3 rashers of streaky bacon, but it needed more)
1 onion, peeled and chopped
2 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
1 celery stick, chopped
1 x 450g can chopped tomatoes
3 tbsp tomato puree
400ml hot water
a handful of parsley, finely chopped
1/2 tsp sugar
salt and freshly ground pepper

Drain the soaked cannellini beans and place in a large saucepan. Add the sage leaves and enough cold water to generously cover. Bring to the boil. Boil for 1 hour, checking now and then in case the water needs topping up, until the beans are tender; drain, discarding the sage leaves.

Preheat the oven to 180C. Heat the olive oil in a large, heavy-based casserole dish. Add the bay leaf, pancetta/bacon, onion, garlic and celery. Fry, stirring, over a medium heat until the onion is softened. Add the chopped tomatoes, mixing well.

Stir the tomato puree into the hot water and add to the casserole, along with parsley and sugar. Season generously with salt and freshly ground pepper. Mix in the cannellini beans and bring to the boil.

Cover the casserole and cook in the oven for 30 minutes. Serve.