Butter Bean Casserole

We all love the warm and fuzzy feelings of a home-made meal. This Butter Bean Casserole could be another one to add to the list of your favourites. This dish is flavourful, delicious and perfect as a family meal, or a dinner for two. The butter beans, cooked in white wine, vegetable stock and tomato passata adds amazing flavour. The melted cheese on top is the best part of all!

You will love this recipe.

While comfort food feels so good to eat, it is also nice to have a balance. In between the beans and vegetables, this casserole would not be complete without a topping made from bread crumbs, pine nuts and cheese! Using pine nuts as a topping may not be the norm, but when roughly chopped, they add the best texture and flavour. And who doesn’t love melted cheese on top of a baked dish? I think it adds the best cozy vibes.

It is not until recently that I have started adding white wine to my cooking. It wasn’t until we tested a recipe in my Gastronomy course with Le Cordon Bleu that I realized what amazing depth of flavour a wine can add. Before that, if you told me to add wine to anything, I would have ignored it. As a previous skeptic, trust me when I say, this is a great addition to this dish.

This Butter Bean casserole would be the best to eat on the night that you make it. It would be a shame not to taste it freshly baked, especially with that cheese nicely melted. However, I would also eat it the next day because the flavours have more time to set.

The details.

You may be wondering if you should use fresh butter beans or canned ones. This recipe requires canned butter beans, so definitely use those! Rinse and drain them really well before using. I usually rinse them well the first time, let them sit for five minutes and give them another thorough rinse. Just for a piece of mind! Any brand of canned beans will do, just make sure they are not flavoured in any way.

As for the vegetables.

The leeks, onions and garlic should be cooked until they all soften. The leeks can take longer to soften and that’s okay! The carrots and red bell pepper are also common ingredients, although in some places a bell pepper is also called a capcicum. To me, they are both the same thing.

The wine, stock, sauce and seasonings.

Recently, I used a tomato passata in a soup recipe and I genuinely thought it made such a difference compared to using a can of crushed tomatoes. If you are unsure, passata is a thick paste made from sieved tomatoes. It is used a lot in Italian cuisine. The creamy texture of passata works really well in this Butter Bean Casserole.

Use any type of white wine that is suitable in cooking, it does not have to be a specific brand. For the vegetable stock, I use dried vegetable stock cubes, simply for convenience. As for the seasonings, this recipe does not use too many. The rosemary and parsley pair great with this dish and freshly picked thyme springs give the most flavour and aroma (in my opinion!).

Making the casserole.

Rather than throwing all of the ingredients in the casserole dish and baking straight away, the casserole should be prepared in a large pan. Start by heating up olive oil in a pan, adding in the yellow onion, leek and garlic. When the onions have begun to soften, add the chopped carrots and capcicum. Let them cook for a few minutes, add in the butter beans and stir.

Then comes the wine, vegetable stock, tomato passata and the seasonings. This should be cooked for up to ten minutes on high heat until some of the liquid has reduced. You will need to stir occasionally.

To get the casserole ready for baking, add the cooked vegetables, beans, and sauce into a casserole dish. Spread one half of the breadcrumbs, then a layer of the chopped pine nuts, the grated cheese and finally, the remainder of the bread crumbs which has been mixed with a teaspoon of parsley. Cover with foil, and let bake for twenty minutes.

Looking for more recipes?

Try my Savoury Cheesy Biscuits for a morre-ish snack

or if you are looking for more comfort then the Homemade Tomato Soup is worth a try too!

If you try this Butter Bean Casserole, be sure to leave a comment or a rating. I would love to hear your thoughts and if you enjoyed this recipe. If you do make this recipe, you can tag me over on Instagram.. I would love to see a photo and hear from you.