Dinner in 15: cheesy bean bake

 Ciao bambini.  Annalena was very busy and very occupied last week, so you didn't see her.  She's sorry about that, and will try to make it up to you, with many recipes this week.  Yes, many of us are getting ready for Thanksgiving, but as Annalena's veterinarian once said of her beloved Margot  "kitty's GOT to EEEEEAT"  (Dr. vander Woeert was Dutch, so please improvise the accent). 

Annalena is going to start with a recipe that you literally could have on the table in 15 minutes.  If you do things the way Annalena does, you'll need to do some prepping to make this, but the prep work is so easy, that you should be doing something like this, every week.

We're making a cheesy bean casserole.  It's a vegetarian dish that needs "something green" to go along with it.  Annalena made salad, but you should choose what you like.  Are we ready to begin?  Well, good.

First, preheat your oven to 475, and get a very sturdy, very big pan ready.  And you will need these ingredients:

What you see here, ragazzi, is all we will need:  1/4 cup of tomato paste (Annalena uses the stuff in a tube.  If you have passato, use that.  Try not to use the stuff in the can because, well, what are you going to do with the leftovers?).  There is also 1/2 pound of good quality mozzarella (remember our rule:  no cheese that ends with an  "LLY-O" for the army.  If you can't get mozz, use fontina.).  You will also see five cloves of garlic, peeled and sliced,  olive oil (you'll need 1/4 cup of that), and ... the item where you should be doing prep:  4 cups of soft beans.

Now, tesori, you COULD use canned beans on this.  But REALLY?  Have you ever looked at the ingredients in canned beans, even the organic ones?  REALLY?   No no no, Annalena does NOT want you using canned beans.  What she wants you to do is to get some fresh dried beans (more on this below), and soak a pound of them, overnight.  The next day, depending on the school of thought to which you belong, either dump the water and re-cover the beans, or add more water to cover the beans by 2 inches.

Some commentary here, amici.  Dried beans keep forever.  That does NOT mean they do not change.  Old beans will take forever to cook, if they cook at all.  FRESH dried beans (which sounds like a contradiction in terms), will cook up quickly.  Here's a way to tell, if the beans you have, are old, or new.  When you cover them with water, and let them soak overnight, see how much water they take up.  Fresh dried beans will take up a LOT.  Old ones? Not so much (Is anyone but Annalena thinking of the line in "Flower Drum Song " - which could be the San Francisco Chinese variation on the life of your New York Italian gal   -  "Oh, yes.  A dozen thousand year old eggs.  AND MAKE SURE THEY'RE FRESH.")

Sorry.  Even though it's politically incorrect to say so,  Annalena loves that movie (and does anyone NOT love the song "Love look away?").

So, ok, we've established that you should buy your dry beans from someone who replaces them regularly  (Annalena is with a great many cooks who buy them from Rancho Gordo. She gets hers mail order, but you can find them in good stores).  On the water:  Annalena grew up being taught that while soaking, the beans would give up chemicals that would cause gas, and might inhibit their cooking.  Many do not adhere to this belief, and point out, rightly, that if you dump that water, you are wasting a  scarce resource.  Indeed, as our current government not so slowly destroys our environment,  this is an issue.  Being old school, and not long for this world, Annalena DOES change the water.  For what it is worth, she winces when she does.  To each his or her own on this. 

In any event, cook those beans, and cook them longer than you think you should.  You want the beans to be soft.  And if you start with a pound of dried beans, you'll have about 7-8 cups of cooked, which is twice what you need for this recipe.  Put half of them in the freezer, and use them for a soup  . (Annalena used them to make a kale and white bean soup with a tomato broth.  Too bad she's already married, right?).

Let us step back to the cheese.  Indeed, one should ALWAYS step back to cheese.  We have to grate this.  Grating mozzarella, is not easy.  It's soft.  Soft cheese are difficult to grate or shred.  Our solution?  Any volunteers?  AH.   Annalena thinks she sees Laura back there hesitating.  Laura, you were going to suggest freezing the cheese for half an hour, weren't you.  BRAVISSIMA.  Yes, ragazzi, you do NOT freeze cheese overnight , but if you freeze it for a half hour, a soft cheese is much easier to grate (this is a technique Annalena learned, by the way, from a Chinese teacher, who used it to slice beef for stir frying.  Yet again, Annalena crosses paths with the Flower Drum song.  One day, she will tell you all about her overdramatic interpretation (some would call it an interruption) of the song "Chop Suey."  It does suit Annalena's fach).

So, now we have had our lesson on beans, and we're ready to cook.  Is your oven at 475?  Surely Annalena has prattled enough to let it get there.    Now, remember that big pan?  Put the olive oil in, and the garlic.  Let them heat together, and after about a minute - yes, a minute - you'll get something like this:

Now, you're going to add the 1/4 cup of tomato sauce, and stir it around for about another minute:

This is all happening, by the way, at medium high heat.  See how the oil has colored and the paste has broken up a bit?  Worry not.  All will be well.

Now, to the beans.  In they go, and stir it all together:

Now, remember that cheese we worked so hard to grate?  Let's sprinkle it over the beans:

And now, let's put this pan into the oven, for 5-10 minutes.  Check it after 5.  The cheese will have melted, but you may want it to darken.  Indeed, who can reject crispy cheese?  So, Annalena baked this for 10 minutes, and put it  under the broiler for two minutes:

Annalena suggests that you go back and count up how much time we spent working on this dish.  Not much, huh?  

Heavens, this is good.  Let's make it again, ragazzi. Annalena does not say this often, but this recipe is a keeper.  She served garlic bread and salad with it, and regretted nothing.    And with that, she offers you all a song which  she hopes applies to you. 

Annalena will be back tomorrow, with another, more difficult recipe.  In fact, it is a redux of a recipe already here, but ILLUSTRATED!!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aurqCBAqUBI