This is a repackaged recipe from last winter; however, this fall we got an ungodly amount of eggplant from our CSA and from an old neighbor. I haven’t cooked with eggplant a lot, and so many recipes with eggplant pair it with tomatoes! Adding eggplant into my favorite butter beans dish was the best choice of fall 2024.
I figured that instead of only making ratatouille I would try branching out with my hoards of eggplant and make a meal I already love, with eggplant added.
This recipe should take around 30 minutes (assuming your beans are already cooked).
ingredients
- 1 onion, diced
- 1-5 Garlic cloves, diced
- Who am I to tell you how much garlic is enough, when enough is never enough?
- 1 large Eggplant, diced
- 2 cans of Butter Beans (cannellini bean/navy beans/great white beans all work too)
- Equivalent to 1.5 cup of dry beans – need to be soaked and cook prior to cooking
- 28oz can of tomatoes (I get San Marzano)
- Heavy cream
- Burrata (or Mozzarella)
- Salt + pepper + any other seasoning you enjoy
Recipe
- Preheat oven to 450°
- Dice the onion, eggplant, and garlic
- Oil and season the eggplant, and put it in the oven for 20-30 minutes
- Sauté the onion on medium heat for 5ish minutes, or until they are translucent
- Salt at this step to draw out the moisture and cook them down nicely
- Add the garlic to the pan and sauté for 2ish minutes
- Add in the canned tomatoes and simmer for 20ish minutes – season to taste
- If using the whole canned tomatoes, just crush the tomatoes in your hand when adding them into the pan
- Combine the white beans and heavy cream into the tomato sauce
- I eyeball how much heavy cream I want each time I make this
- Add in the roasted eggplant when they are fully cooked
- Season to taste and top with a fresh creamy cheese, I used burrata cheese!
This recipe tastes fantastic when paired with toast! I ate it with my homemade sourdough, but even Texas toast would be an amazing combination.
I can not recommend trying this beautiful winter bean recipe enough. It tastes like summer, even though it is such a hearty meal! The addition of the eggplant adds a depth to the sauce that is so good. I have recreated this meal with summer squashes too, with similar delicious results.
Most of this recipe is made up of cheap pantry items/essentials a lot of families have. You could literally top this recipe with mozzarella sticks if you wanted to. They may just take a little longer to melt in.
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