Pot of Beans
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- Prep Time 10 minutes
- Total Time 2 hours 10 minutes (or overnight)
- Yield Makes 6 cups
Ingredients
Beans
- 1 pound dried beans, such as kidney, cannellini, navy, pinto, or black
- 8 to 10 cups water, plus more for soaking
Flavor Base
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 onion, chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, chopped
- 1 fresh chile, chopped
- Coarse salt
- Optional flavor add-ins (see below)
Directions
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Make the beans: Place beans in a large bowl; cover with water by several inches. Refrigerate, covered, overnight. Drain. (For a quick soak, cover beans in a saucepan with water. Bring to a boil. Remove from heat. Let stand, covered, for 1 hour. Drain.)
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Make the flavor base: Heat oil in a pot over medium heat. Cook onion, garlic, chile, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, and any add-ins until onion and garlic are soft, about 5 minutes.
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Add beans, 8 cups water, and 1 1/2 teaspoons salt. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat. Simmer, partially covered, adding water as needed to keep submerged, until tender, 35 minutes to 2 hours, depending on type of bean. (Start checking for doneness after 30 minutes.)
Cook's Note
Stir a few tablespoons of any of these into the flavor base: bell peppers, sausage, bacon, tomatoes. Or season with herbs and spices (cumin, paprika, cayenne, oregano, thyme, rosemary, bay leaf).
OH YUM! I've never cooked cannellini beans before, and am really new to bean cooking in general. THANKS for this recipe - great one to rif from!
Only had dried smoked chili, so rehydrated it. Added some cooked bacon (old), a bit of leftover Speck (from another recipe here), 1/3 bell pepper, 2 stalk celery. Put in 4 cups water then remembered leftover 1 1/2 qt chicken stock, used it. 3 hours later...oh lordy it's divine bean soup!!
Really easy! I mashed some up to top crostini with, and sprinkled with sea salt and olive oil. My beans took only 35 minutes.