purè di cannellini / cannellini bean purée

In a recent New York Times article, Mark Bittman gave some suggestions on how to use dried white beans (fagioli):

If you’re not sold, try this: soak and cook a pound of white beans. Take some and finish with fresh chopped sage, garlic and good olive oil. Purée another cup or so with a boiled potato and lots of garlic...

I immediately liked the idea of beans puréed with potatoes, so I followed his advice, using half a cup of dried cannellini beans I had soaked overnight and cooked with a different plan in mind (for which I should have taken them off the heat a couple of minutes earlier than I did).

I boiled a potato (patata) and mashed it with a potato masher (schiacciapatate), while I used the food processor to purée the beans and garlic (aglio). "Lots" as applied to garlic (and to pretty much anything) is a rather personal measurement: I used a section of a garlic head that included 7-8 cloves (spicchi). I was baking an acorn squash at 375 F, so I decided to roast the garlic, unpeeled, wrapped in foil, until soft, then peeled and finally added it to the beans.

After I mixed everything, I decided that the purée was too pale, so I roasted a red bell pepper (peperone rosso), let it cool in a paper bag, peeled it, ran it through the food processor briefly and added it to the bean mix. A few leaves of parsley (prezzemolo), chopped, lent additional color and then a bit of freshly-squeezed lemon juice added some tang. Salt and pepper to taste, and voilà, something nice to spread on bread, or eat with another accompaniment.

After tasting it, I can say that questo purè di cannellini mi va a fagiolo (I like this cannellini bean purée very much), to use a nice Italian expression that references beans.

This is my contribution to My Legume Love Affair - Eighth Helping, the popular, legume-centered event that is the brainchild of Susan, The Well-Seasoned Cook, hosted this month by the creator herself.

On this page you will find the roundup of the event.

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Click on the button to hear me pronounce the Italian words mentioned in the post: 

purè di cannellini

or launch the purè di cannellini  audio file [mp3].

Comments

[Laurie Constantino]

Such a beautiful spread - it would be a lovely way to start a meal!

[mia]

This is lovely! I remmember tasting something similar in a Romanian restaurant several yrs ago-a more basic mash of the beans with Garlic (Im not sure as to the exact components).It seemed to be somewhat of a traditional dish,I remember it to be delicious,Im sure that this more elaborated version is even better!
delighted to hear about this event ,maybe I will still manage to participate myself.. :) Grazie,Mia

[Paz]

Yum! Wonderful contribution to the food blogging event.

Paz

[Simona Carini]

Thanks, Laurie. I served it for dinner a few days ago and it was appreciated by the guests.

Hi Mia. I must admit I don't know any Romanian dish. You've got me curious now: I will try and find something about it. The event occurs every month, with a different host and it is a lot of fun.

Thanks, Paz!

[Katie]

I love white beans in any form - even pureed and as a pasta sauce. The roasted red pepper was brilliant!

[mia]

Yes,actually your post has gotten me re-intrigued aswell..I will try and see if I can track it back down,and let you know! :)

[mia]

Got it..
The traditional Romanian equivalent dip is called ''Fasole batuta'',seems there are several versions of preparations,mainly either with onions or with garlic,and some even tainted by the use of tomato/or paprika! The one I recall was white with plenty of garlic.Most of the recipes on the net are in Romanian..so I found these 2 in English-

http://lakemagazine.com/recipes/recipedetail.asp?id=LID-JWQYS

http://www.recipezaar.com/Romanina-Bean-Dip-Fasole-Batuta-276979

I just love to see how cultures coincide like that!Interesting isnt it?
Hope this helped to quench your curiosity,I know it has taught me some,thanx!

[Lisa]

I adore bean dishes in any form, so this is for me! Your addition of the red pepper sounds (and looks) just right. How wonderful.

[Susan]

Very creative, Simona! A versatile recipe. As great as it is as a starter or snack, I can also see this lovely spread rolled up in thin omelets for a brunch or simple supper. Just add salad and bread.

Thanks for sharing it for MLLA8!

[Lori Lynn]

Gee, I wrote about baked potato beans but I just referred to the style, I never thought to combine them. Excellent idea, Your recipe sounds terrific.
LL

[mia]

Simona,
I hope you werent offended by me bringing here other recipes,I was so excited, I might have gotten carried away.Please forgive me,I hope you know I did not mean to be insensitive.Mia

[Simona Carini]

Thanks, Katie, for the nice words.

Thank you so much, Mia, for your research and the interesting results. Part of my curiosity about the dish you mentioned is linguistic. Romanian is a Romance language. The Italian fagioli and the Romanian fasole come from the same Latin word. The word batuta is also interesting. It reminds me of the Italian battuto, which is prepared by finely chopping lard (battuto di lardo), vegetables or other ingredients. And you are absolutely right, it is nice to see coincidences between cultures.

Thanks, Lisa. I am partial to roasted bell peppers.

You are welcome, Susan, my pleasure. Indeed, I had a couple of tablespoons left over, so I mixed them with a couple of eggs and made a frittata.

Thanks, Lori Lynn.

Dear Mia, just the opposite: I was thrilled. I love learning new things and your contributions gave me the chance of talking about the Romanian language, which is a fascinating argument for me. Please, keep being carried away.

[mia]

Delighted!
I also find these revelations another fun and interesting way to continue to 'travel' and explore all the origins ,where they meet and where they disperse..
Taking it up a notch,The word I know in arabic for beans is 'Fasoulia'.I never thought of it`s origins,but now that you mention it,it seems that it also derives from latin! I find that a bit weird,though..I dont see the connection..?
This might interest you

[Simona Carini]

Thanks Mia. That is an interesting book. The way languages evolve is endlessly fascinating.