Peter McKinley

Peter McKinley

BA (Hons.), MLIS

Niagara Region, Ontario

Holiday Recipe: Cannellini Beans with Prosciutto

Often served as an evening meal, works all day long. Quick meal on a cold evening.

Ingredients

  • 2 540 ml tins of low sodium cannellini (white kidney) beans, rinsed
  • 2-3 ounces of prosciutto, diced (some delis will sell the end piece of the prosciutto, rather than buying slices)
  • Thyme, oregano, chili flakes
  • Black pepper
  • 3-4 handfuls of baby spinach
  • 2 eggs
  • Olive oil
  • Butter
  • Parmesan cheese, finely grated
  • (Optional, in season: asparagus, sliced into 1 inch pieces)

 

Directions

  1. Fry diced prosciutto in a large non-stick pan on medium heat, with a little olive oil, until browned, almost crispy
  2. Add chili flakes, thyme and oregano to the pan with a little more olive oil, stir.
  3. Add beans to the pan, fold everything together, reduce heat a little, cover for 5 minutes.
  4. Add half a cup of warm water to the pan, stir and cover for another 5 minutes. (If using asparagus, add now.)
  5. Add spinach to the pan, cover and reduce heat to medium low. Stir softened spinach into the beans and prosciutto after a couple of minutes.
  6. In another nonstick pan, add a knob of butter, soften.
  7. Crack eggs into pan, cook sunny side up (important, you want a slightly runny yoke). Note: silicon forms for cooking eggs, often for egg muffins, are really handy for this step.

Serving

  1. In a shallow bowl, ladle contents of pan in desirable portions
  2. Grate parmesan over the beans
  3. Place sunny side egg up on top, season to taste with black pepper
  4. Once served, break yolk of the egg so it runs down onto the beans