My husband Ash had 2 kidney stone episodes within the space of 6 months last year. It was painful enough to make him rethink his lifestyle, diet included. Following his own research and the doc’s recommendations, we decided to limit animal protein at home. Woody, my 2 year old has meat and fish at school so at home we mainly eat vegetables for dinner.
It’s been a lot easier than we thought and has also forced us to think outside the box and not rely on your typical meat + veg type of meal. We both love beans and pulses and were happy to find out they are such a nutrient powerhouse as well as a great source of protein. They make an appearance on our plate at least once a week, in different forms.
Beans cacio e pepe however is one of Ash’s most requested dishes. It’s inspired from Padella’s Pici Cacio e Pepe, the only place I’ve always been happy to queue at. And my favourite pasta dish from there has always been their Pici Cacio e Pepe. The rough edged Pici means the thick sauce clings onto the pasta, it’s rich, creamy and fiery; it’s perfect.
The beans work perfectly here instead of the pasta and are a healthier option. I don’t have the patience or the foresight to soak my beans overnight but feel free to do so.
Beans Cacio e pepe
Makes: 2 adult servings
Cook Time: 15 minutes
INGREDIENTS
1 jar of cannellini or butter beans with its liquid (chickpeas also work)
1 garlic clove
80g grated parmesan + rind (if you have it)
2 knobs of unsalted butter (2 tablespoon)
Salt
1 teaspoons freshly cracked black pepper
INSTRUCTIONS
Crush the garlic in a press or cut the garlic finely and cook for a few minutes in a pan with a bit of butter. Don’t let it colour.
Empty your jar of beans with the liquid into a deep pan (with the optional parmesan rind ) and cook on slow heat for 5 minutes.
Once the mixture is slowly bubbling away, add the butter and grated parmesan little by little until it’s all incorporated and the sauce is nice and thick.
Add a teaspoon of ground pepper, I like my cacio e pepe fiery.
Taste and season with salt. Don’t forget the parmesan rind and parmesan will already have brought some saltiness.
If you want to loosen up your mixture just add a splash of water.
Depending on whats in the fridge, I will often add:
Spinach. Added at the end and left to wilt for a few minutes under the lid.
Mushrooms/leeks. Sauteed in the pan with butter before step 1
Butternut. Roasted in the oven until soft then mashed in the pan once the garlic is cooked.
They taste even better the next day as the ingredients have more time to meet each other. I will often have beans on toast with an egg for lunch the next day.
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As well as providing you with some tasty recipes, I also want you to feel like you can experiment in the kitchen and not have to follow a recipe. So I think it’s important we talk about saltiness, it’s one of the five primary basic tastes the human tongue can detect along with sweet, bitter, sour, and umami.
I use salt as a flavour enhancer. The right amount of salt in a dish will bring out other flavours than just saltiness. An under seasoned dish will not taste of much, but add the right amount of salt and it will bring out the umami or tone down the bitterness and taste completely different. And obviously we’ve all over salted a dish once in our life, but don’t worry, it's not over, we can fix it.
To fix oversalted food you have a few options to choose from depending on what you’re trying to save.
Add sweetness. The most obvious solution is to add a pinch of sugar, a spoon of honey or date syrup to counteract the saltiness.
Add acidity. Squeeze half a lemon/ lime juice if it works with what your cooking (tomato sauce/ pasta)
Add dairy. As long as it works with what you’re cooking, add more cream to it. Non-dairy works perfectly also, oat milk or coconut milk.
And if you’re cooking a soup or stew, dilute it by adding more liquid (water) or more solids (like raw potatoes) which will absorb the extra salt.
Have fun experimenting, that’s what cooking’s about.
Until next time x
So informed as ever! Especially on the subject of Cacio e Pepe! 😘