Italian Baked Beans (gluten free)

Pioneer Baked Beans was one of the most popular posts at my blog of "all time."  Who'd a thought?  Retro and comfort foods are supposed to continue to be big this year.

Often I don't want the meat and the fat from the pork so I make a vegetarian version.  I have made these beans in the oven in a casserole baking dish, cast iron Dutch oven and also in a slow cooker.  My instructions show slow cooker method followed by stove top and oven.  The version below has cheese but it is easy to make VEGAN by skipping  the cheese or topping with my recipe for quinoa polenta and toasted sunflower seeds.  

		Ingredient
1 cup	250 ml	White pea or “Navy” beans - any dry bean
½ tsp	2.5 ml	Fennel seed
½ tsp	2.5 ml	Thyme
1 tsp	5 ml	Basil
1 Tbsp	15 ml	Hot chile pepper
1 cup	250 ml	Onion, diced
2	2	Garlic, cloves, minced
24	24	Carrots, baby, medium
28 fl oz	798 ml	Diced tomatoes, canned, with juice
5 fl oz	156 ml	Tomato paste, canned
1 cup	250 ml	Wine, white, dry
1 ¼ lb	½ kg	Polenta, tube, ready to serve (e.g., Aurora brand)
¼ cup	60 ml	Romano cheese, shredded
1 cup	250 ml	Mozzarella cheese, part skim, shredded
¼ cup	60 ml	Parsley, fresh, minced
½ tsp	2.5 ml	Paprika, sweet, ground

SLOW COOKER METHOD:

 1.  Soak beans in plenty of cold water over-night - use three times their volume of water.  You can do this in the crock of the slow cooker.  Drain.

2.  Add fennel, thyme, basil, a whole chili (optional), chopped onion and minced garlic to the beans.  Add 2 liters (8 cups) cold water to cover.  This amount of water is an estimate.  You can add more later if it is needed.

3.  Stir in whole baby carrots.  I used some cubed rutabaga the second time I made this as I was out of carrots.  Necessity is the mother of invention.  Cover and cook on LOW 4 hours.  The beans should be tender and most of the liquid absorbed.  It looks a little monotone with the turnip  but this gets corrected.

4.  Stir in slivers of coloured peppers, canned diced tomatoes with liquid, tomato paste and white wine.  Cover and cook an additional. 2 hours.  Taste it and see if it needs salt, more herbs etc.  The polenta and cheese topping will add some saltiness so go easy.

5.  Slice polenta into rounds.

Arrange polenta rounds on top of beans.  Push them down into the beans a bit.  

Then sprinkle on the grated Romano and mozzarella cheeses (optional).  I sprinkled on some fresh parsley and paprika last for colour.  

Cover and heat on low until bubbling and cheese is melted.  I don't have a picture of the final product as my son and I were pretty hungry and had devoured a lot of it by the time I remembered I hadn't taken a picture.

STOVE TOP version:

1.  Add dry beans to stockpot and cover with 3 times their volume of water.  Bring to a boil for 2 minutes.  Remove from heat, cover and let sit 1 hour. 

2.  Drain discarding liquid.  Return soaked beans to pot along with 3 times their volume fresh water.  Add fennel, thyme, basil, hot pepper, diced onion and minced garlic.  Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer 30-45 minutes or until tender.  Drain, reserving 2 cups cooking liquid. 

3.  In oven proof casserole combine cooked beans, reserved liquid, baby (or chopped) carrots, slivers of yellow pepper, can of tomatoes with juice, tomato paste and white wine.  Cover and bake at 350'F for 2 hours. 

4.  Top with sliced polenta rounds.  Push them down into the beans a bit.  Then sprinkle on the grated Romano and mozzarella cheeses (optional).  I also sprinkled on some fresh parsley and paprika last for colour.  Cover and bake another hour or so until bubbling and cheese is melted.

Nutrients (per 1/8^th of recipe – about 350 g)

Calories	280
Protein (g)	14
Total Fat (g)	5
Saturated Fat (g)	2.5
Carbohydrate (g)	37
Fibre (g)	10
Cholesterol (mg)	10
Sodium (mg)	640
%DV (Daily Value)
Calcium	25
Iron	25
Vitamin A	120
Vitamin C	130

Tastefully yours,
Nancy Guppy, RD
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Visit me at www.chapmanslanding.com where you can find out what's 
cooking on my class calendar. If you are interested in nutrition or diet 
counselling pop over to www.nancyguppy.com. A lot of health plans cover the cost of consulting an RD.

My next cooking class coming up at Chapman's Landing is "Ancient Grains” on Sunday March 4th.  This is a great class for people learning to add gluten free variety and interest to their meals.  Please see my menu and register online at http://www.chapmanslanding.com/course_outline.asp?id=59&session=431