Slow-roast tomato and white bean stew
Two tins, one oven, almost no attention.
Words — WT Editorial Team
- Prep
- 10 min
- Cook
- 50 min
- Serves
- 4
- Level
- Easy
Roasting the tomatoes rather than simmering them concentrates their sugar, which is the whole difference between a thin sauce and a rich one.
Use the biggest beans you can find — butter beans hold their shape and feel generous.
Ingredients
- 600g cherry tomatoes
- 2 tins butter beans, drained
- 6 tbsp olive oil
- 4 garlic cloves, unpeeled
- 1 tsp fennel seeds
- Pinch chilli flakes
- 1 strip lemon peel
- Large handful basil
- Sea salt and black pepper
Method
- 1
Heat the oven to 200°C. Tumble the tomatoes, garlic, fennel seeds, chilli and lemon peel into an oven dish with half the oil and plenty of salt.
- 2
Roast for 35 minutes, until the tomatoes have collapsed and caught at the edges.
- 3
Squeeze the garlic out of its skins, discard the peel, and crush everything roughly with a fork.
- 4
Fold in the beans and the rest of the oil and return to the oven for 15 minutes.
- 5
Tear in the basil off the heat. Eat with bread, or over polenta.
Notes from the kitchen
- A spoonful of the bean liquid loosens the stew if it tightens overnight.
- Good cold, as a lunch, with a lot of black pepper.
Why we cook it
A cheap, shelf-stable dinner built on pulses and olive oil — the boring backbone of every diet pattern with good long-term evidence behind it.
The Sunday Edit
Five things worth knowing for a healthier week.
