This simple bean dish is packed with flavor! Despite the fact that it cooks for an hour or so, it is very quick to put together. I had some northern beans soaking overnight ready to go. If you forget to soak your beans, you can put them in a pot covered with water. Boil for 10 minutes and allow to soak, covered, for 1 hour.

Other than your beans, the prep for this dish is just cutting up some onion and garlic. Once that is done, it is time to get cooking! I didn’t want a lot of color in my onions and garlic so I started the onions on medium heat.

After a couple minutes, I added some minced garlic. This is probably one of the best kitchen smells ever, in my opinion.

Add the soaked and drained white beans,

And add water and seasonings.

Simmer covered for 1- 1 1/2 hours. It smelled amazing in my house which is a good thing because it reminded me to keep checking my beans to make sure they didn’t dry out and burn! I will say this in every bean recipe ever: keep checking on your beans! Depending on how dry/old your beans are, they will absorb different amounts of water which means sometimes they dry up. If you put too much in the beginning, they stay soupy. So it is best to put just enough and keep checking on it.

After the beans were tender, I mashed some against the bottom of the pot. This helps thicken the liquid making the beans have a creamy consistency.

Next, I let it simmer uncovered to thicken up slightly.

See? Super easy! It has a lovely creamy consistency and the herbs add a deliciously comforting flavor! I served this with garlic olive oil pasta, arugula salad, crostini with spinach and tomato dip, and baked zucchini and yellow squash. This would be great served over rice too.

Enjoy!

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Creamy Italian Herb White Beans

Ingredients

• 1 cup dried northern beans (or other white bean), soaked overnight
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon salt, to taste
• 3/4 teaspoon dried rosemary
• 1/8 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/8 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/8 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 bay leaf
• 4 cups water or stock
• Olive oil, for cooking

Directions

1. Heat about 1 teaspoon olive oil in a pot on medium heat
2. Cook onion in oil for 2-3 minutes
3. Add garlic and cook additional 1-2 minutes
4. Add drained beans
5. Add water and seasonings
6. Bring to a boil; reduce heat to low/medium low and simmer 1 – 1 1/2 hours until beans are tender
7. Mash a small portion of the beans with a spoon against the side or bottom of the pot to give creamy consistency
8. Continue to cook uncovered, stirring, for about 5 minutes to allow beans to thicken
9. Serve over rice, with pasta, or as a side dish!