This is one of my all time favorite meals! It is so hearty and savory, and it has the perfect cooking time for a wonderful glass of wine!
The base of this recipe is made up of Cannellini Beans and bacon, then flavored with San Marzano (the best of the best!) tomatoes, and swimming in a light sage and white wine sauce. There are several versions of this recipe swimming around the web, some hot prepared, some cold and marinated, but this version has to be my favorite.
I think I’ve made this meal a hundred times! Really.
For this perfect savory dish, you’ll need:
- cannellini beans (white beans or navy beans will also work, if you can’t find cannellini)
- San Marzano Organic whole tomatoes
- bacon
- a dry white wine
- fresh garlic
- fresh sage leaves
- kosher salt
- fresh cracked black pepper
- sourdough loaf, sliced
Using fresh and high-quality ingredients is important in this recipe because there aren’t many ingredients! You want each of them to shine, taste incredible, and be good for you too!
What kind of wine should I use?
A dry white wine is best for this recipe, a Chardonnay or a Sauvignon Blanc work perfectly. You’ll be using the wine to deglaze the pan after you cook the bacon, and add a bit of sweetness and complexity to the dish.
I don’t recommend a cooking wine for this. Standard cooking wine, that you can find in the oils and seasoning aisle of the grocery store, actually has quite a bit of salt in it – as it helps preserve the shelf life. This dish has just the right amount of salt in it with the bacon, so that extra saltiness is not quite necessary.
Not to mention, you also get to enjoy a glass (or a couple!) while you cook!
Why are San Marzano tomatoes so great?
San Marzano Organic Tomatoes are my GO TO for sauces, and honestly any recipe that calls for whole canned tomatoes. They are low in acidity and incredibly rich in flavor. It is also known that they have a thicker consistency than standard whole canned tomatoes. This is helpful in this recipe because you want to be able to pick up a few pieces of tomato with each bite, it really adds to the taste!
You can find San Marzano Organic Tomatoes in the tomato and sauce aisle of your grocery store. They come in a large 28 ounce yellow can.
Yes. Organic is necessary with canned tomatoes.
Canned tomatoes are widely known to test positive for all kinds of pesticides and and additives to help breakdown the product. Organic canned tomatoes are relatively affordable, in comparison to regular canned tomatoes (only about 10 cents more per can). Canned and jarred organic tomatoes are one of the most comparable products in price to its standard pesticide and preservative filled version.
So how do I make this glorious dish?
- First, prep all of your ingredients. This is a must! Once this recipe is rolling, it moves fast. So drain and rinse your beans, chop your garlic, drain most of the juice from the tomatoes, chiffonade about 6 ro 7 of your sage leaves, and chop your bacon into 1 inch pieces.
- Heat a teaspoon of olive oil in a pan and add your bacon to the pan, fry until it’s almost crispy. Don’t get the bacon too crispy, you don’t want bacon bits in your beans!
- When the bacon is almost crispy, take it out of the pan with a slotted spoon and move it to a paper towel to drain.
- Make sure your heat is on medium (know your stove!), and add your garlic and sage. Sautee for just about 1 minute, just until the garlic is fragrant.
- Add the wine, and stir the garlic and sage bits. Let the wine cook off for about 5 minutes.
- In the meantime, crush your tomatoes just a little bit so they’ll break up in the pan a little easier.
- Add the tomatoes and the cannellini beans to the pan, and stir.
- Cover and let this cook down for about 10 – 15 minutes, season to taste with salt and pepper, and add a little extra fresh chopped sage on top.
- Absolutely serve this over gently grilled sourdough toast! Sourdough is a must with this dish! (Pro tip! Take a garlic clove and rub it over a piece of sourdough toast, drizzle it with olive oil, and throw it on the grill for a few seconds. You can also put it directly on your oven grate at 400° for just a few minutes!)
What else can I serve with this?
When I’m home alone I eat just this, with a few slices of sourdough toast and some wine and it’s just perfect! When my soon to be hubby is home, well he requires a bit more sustenance than I so I make it with a few chicken thighs. I cook the chicken thighs in my cast iron, so they have that beautiful crispy skin, and add them to this dish right after I put the beans and tomatoes in. Cover it and let it cook for through for about 10 minutes, and the chicken now has this incredible flavor of the sage and wine sauce.
If you try this recipe out, don’t forget to post a rating and comment!
I’d love to see your pictures on Instagram too! Tag @a_toastedcrumb!
Sautéed Cannellini Beans on Toast
Ingredients
- 2 15 oz cans Cannellini Beans drained and rinsed
- 1 28 oz can San Marzano Organic Whole Tomatoes drained of most of the juice
- 4-6 strips Bacon cut into 1 in pieces
- 1 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 3 cloves Garlic minced
- 1/4 cup Dry White Wine
- 4-6 Fresh Sage Leaves chiffonaded (plus more for garnishing)
- Kosher Salt/Fresh Cracked Black Pepper to taste
- Sourdough Toast
