Mushroom White Bean Gratin
Elsa made this dish for a dinner party a couple of times, served with a salad. It was so good; I loved the rich flavor from the white beans and veggies and crusty bread -- so much that I bought a 6-qt cast iron dutch oven largely so I could try this out (and also try making bread; more on that soon).
Note: for oil, the recipe called for olive, but I tend to use canola for high-heat cooking (reserving olive for room-temperature tasting).
Ingredients
1/4 C oil
10 oz mushrooms, sliced
1 leek (or onion), finely chopped
3 large carrots, cut in 3/4" pieces
(could add potato or other root veggies, too)
4-5 cloves garlic, minced
1 T flour
1 C water
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 T tomato paste
1/2 tsp thyme
1/2 C dry sherry
30 oz white beans (cooked dry, or use two 15 oz cans), undrained
4-5 slices country bread, cut in 1/2" cubes
1/4 C oil (olive or canola)
1/4 C minced parsley
Instructions
Chop and dice the veggies. Whisk together the flour and water.
Saute onion (with salt) on medium high for a couple of minutes, and then add mushroom and saute until well browned. Reduce heat to medium and stir in garlic and pepper. Saute a few minutes.
Reduce heat to medium low and add tomato paste and thyme. Saute a few minutes. Add sherry and cook, scraping up the tiny brown bits.
Add beans and their liquid, the carrot, and flour-water mixture. Bring to boil over high heat.
Meanwhile, mix the bread cubes, parsley, and oil in a bowl.
Remove skillet from heat, and transfer to cast iron dutch oven (unless that's what you used for a skillet :)
Cover the mixture with the prepared bread cubes. Bake 40-50 minutes at 300 degrees, then broil carefully to brown bread cube topping.
Remove and let sit 10-15 minutes. Serve! Nice with a light salad.
Gathering ingredients, including pressure-cooking the white beans:
