Rancho Gordo Inspired

February 10, 2022

Join us in making a simple and delicious white bean casserole.

Some of the best food comes from simple recipes. The assembly of just a few quality ingredients, each allowed to shine. What I love about Steve Sando is that he embraces this philosophy. He provides us with a tremendous variety of some of the highest quality beans around, and his simple recipes bring them to life. In “The Rancho Gordo Vegetarian Kitchen”  from about 5 years ago ( now technically Volume One; Volume Two was just released ) Sando writes his “quick ideas,” lists of ingredients so easily thrown together that a recipe isn’t really needed, such as Cassoulet Beans, Ricotta and Steamed Spinach.  Simply gather these ingredients, two of which may already be sitting in your fridge or left over from other meals, and chuck ‘em in a bowl. Eat. Enjoy.

Sometimes you may be in the mood to, as the sign says at our door, play with your food. That certainly doesn’t mean things have to get complicated. This morning my wife said she was in the mood for a white bean casserole, and The Rancho Gordo Vegetarian Cookbook Volume 1 happens to have such a recipe, one we’ve have tried and loved before. Today I wanted to play, though, so I altered the ingredients and the technique just a bit. 

We DEVOURED this recipe. 

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Check out our selection of Rancho Gordo Beans and other food items and let the quality of the ingredients inspire you, wether you keep it real simple or decide to play a bit. The most important thing is to have fun cooking.

COOK WITH US!

I started out with some Rancho Gordo Aliubia Blanca Beans (cooked in an Emile Henry Sublime Pot) with some sautéed shallot, garlic, Italian oregano and some Aleppo Pepper  until nice and soft. 

One of the things I wanted to tweak was the recipe’s “sauce.” The original recipe simply calls for the beans to be baked with some of their cooking liquid. I wanted something richer and creamier, but still not too heavy. While the beans were cooking I roasted about 5 cloves of garlic with some salt and olive oil for about 10 minutes. 

When the beans were done, I strained them and put them in a casserole dish. I squeezed the cloves of roasted garlic into a small bowl and mashed them with a little salt using a fork. I then added a few tablespoons of the bean broth and kept mixing ‘til it was combined with the garlic.

I tossed the beans with some fresh herbs, a couple tablespoons of Parmigiano cheese, a few chopped sun-dried tomatoes, and the garlic-broth mixture. I then topped with a mixture of equal parts Panko bread crumbs and Parmigiano, evenly coated in olive oil. Into a 425 degree oven for about 10 minutes until the topping was nice and brown.

ENJOY!!!

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