Gigante Beans with Walnut Crunch & Anchovies – SIMPLi

iNGREDIENTS

For The Brothy Beans

SIMPLi Regenerative Organic Certified® Gigante Beans

1 bag

SIMPLi Peruvian Spice Salt Blend

1 tbsp

SIMPLi Extra Virgin Olive Oil

⅓ cup

Yellow onions (or 1 large), halved

2 small

Garlic, cut down the equator

1 head

Thyme

4 sprigs

Bay leaf

1

Kombu

1 piece

Sherry vinegar

A splash

For The Assembly

SIMPLi Extra Virgin Olive Oil, divided, plus more to serve

¼ cup

garlic clove, grated on a Microplane

1

finely chopped rosemary

1 tbsp

walnut halves

½ cup

roughly chopped parsley

⅓ cup

Fishwife Cantabrian anchovies

1 tin

Zest and juice of lemon

1

iNSTRUCTIONS

For The Brothy Beans:

Pour the bag of beans into a large mixing bowl and cover generously with water. Soak them overnight, or for at least 8 hours.
Strain the beans of their soaking water, then place them in a medium saucepan. Add enough water to cover the beans by 3 inches. Add the onions, garlic, thyme, bay, kombu, peruvian spice salt and olive oil.
Bring everything up to a bare boil over high heat, then lower the heat to medium-low to maintain a gentle simmer.
Cook for at least an hour, possibly upwards of 2, until the beans are tender and delicious. The cooking time will depend largely on how long you soaked them for, and how fresh your beans are.
When tasting for doneness, taste at least 3 beans to make sure they’re each as delicious as the next.
When cooked, add a splash of sherry vinegar and set them aside to cool. When cool, remove all of the aromatics - reserve the cooked onions and garlic for another meal.

For The Assembly:

While the beans are cooking, prepare your walnuts.
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Combine the grated garlic, rosemary, and one tablespoon of olive oil in a small bowl.
On a small sheet tray, toss the walnuts in the garlic and rosemary oil.
Toast for 12 minutes, or until aromatic and golden.
Set aside to cool, then chop to a rough crumble.
Combine the chopped walnuts, the zest of one lemon, chopped parsley, and the remaining three tablespoons of olive oil.
Taste for seasoning and adjust with another pinch of peruvian spice salt if necessary.
To assemble the dish, strain the beans from their broth (and reserve it for another use).
Place the beans in your serving dish.
Squeeze over the lemon juice and give them a good drizzle of olive oil.
Spoon over the walnut crunch, then evenly distribute the anchovies over top.

About the Recipe:

In the spirit of forging new, more sustainable traditions, I’m advocating for more beans on this season’s holiday tables. These gigante beans cook up a tender, meaty delight—satisfying both the craving for a starchy chew and a more satiating protein rich bite. While the formula of aromatics might vary from pot to pot, my non-negotiables for a delicious batch of brothy beans are: plenty of olive oil and salt added from the beginning, the presence of at least one allium (be it garlic, shallots, onion, etc.), and a bay leaf. Everything else is extra credit, and particular spices or aromatics can help you lean the flavor in one direction or the other (like the inclusion of smoked paprika and cumin in these brothy black beans, for instance). Once the beans are fully cooked and tender, I always add a splash of vinegar to lift and brighten.

In this case, once the beans are cooked, they’re strained of their liquid and tossed in a bit of lemon and olive oil–helping to ensure that each bean is fully dressed and craveable. The beans are then scattered with parsley and lemon zest studded chopped walnuts and draped generously with a tin of Cantabrian anchovies. Serve alongside a hunk of bread and a crisp, leafy salad, or with whatever classics you can’t bear to be without for your own holiday traditions.

About the Chef:

Vilda Gonzalez is a chef, recipe developer, and creative. Her work takes many forms, from cooking private dinners, to feeding big groups on retreat, developing recipes for brands, teaching cooking classes, and advocating for more sustainable local food systems, but the through line is constant: she believes that food should be delicious, flavorful, and indulgent, while also being deeply nourishing, sourced with integrity, and inherently healthful. Her mission is to rewire our collective relationship to what eating well truly means, through the lens of seasonality, sensuality, and intuitive home cooking.