Creamy white bean and spinach gratin
White beans and spinach baked in a garlicky, thyme-scented cream sauce under melted Swiss cheese and a crackly golden crumb, a French-style gratin that’s pure comfort in a dish.
- 45 min total
- 20 min hands-on
- Follow-a-recipe easy
- Serves 4
- About $2.70 a serving
- 650 calories
- Good the next day
- Vegetarian
Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- 2 tbsp butter
- 2 shallots, finely chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
- 3 cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
- ½ cup heavy cream
- ½ cup vegetable broth
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- 1 cup Swiss cheese, shredded
- ½ cup panko breadcrumbs
- 2 tbsp grated parmesan
From your pantry
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- ¾ tsp salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 1 tbsp olive oil
Each serving has about 650 calories, 33 g protein, 65 g carbs and 30 g fat, and costs about $2.70 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No butter? Ghee works.
- No grated parmesan? Parmesan wedge works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
the oven to 400°F.
Preheat. Preheating means turning the oven on before you start, so it’s fully hot when the food goes in. Food that starts in a cold oven cooks unevenly and doesn’t brown the same.
How you’ll know: The oven beeps or its light clicks off, usually 10 to 15 minutes after you turn it on.
the butter in a large oven-safe over medium heat. Add the shallots and cook 3 minutes, until soft, then stir in the garlic and thyme for 1 minute.
Melt. Melting means gently heating something solid, like butter or cheese, until it turns liquid. Low or medium heat keeps it from browning or burning.
How you’ll know: It’s smooth and liquid, and butter may foam a little but hasn’t turned brown.
Skillet. A skillet is a frying pan: wide and flat with low, sloped sides. The shape lets steam escape, so food browns instead of stewing.
How you’ll know: It’s the pan you’d fry an egg in, and a 10 or 12 inch one handles most recipes.
Medium heatTimer: 3 min
Squeeze the spinach hard over the sink to get the water out, then stir it into the pan.
Medium heat
Dolly’s tip: Wet spinach makes a watery gratin. Squeeze until only a few drops come out.Add the beans, cream, broth, mustard, salt and pepper and . If your isn’t oven-safe, pour it into a 9-inch square baking dish.
Simmer. Simmering means keeping a liquid just below a boil, with small bubbles rising gently. It cooks food evenly and lets a sauce thicken without scorching on the bottom.
How you’ll know: Small, lazy bubbles break the surface every second or so, and nothing is churning.
Skillet. A skillet is a frying pan: wide and flat with low, sloped sides. The shape lets steam escape, so food browns instead of stewing.
How you’ll know: It’s the pan you’d fry an egg in, and a 10 or 12 inch one handles most recipes.
Medium heat
Scatter the Swiss cheese over the top.
the panko with the parmesan and oil and sprinkle it over the cheese.
Toss. Tossing means gently lifting and turning food so everything gets coated, like pasta in sauce or vegetables in oil. It coats every piece evenly without mashing anything.
How you’ll know: Every piece looks glossy or evenly coated, with no dry spots hiding underneath.
20 to 25 minutes, until bubbling and deep on top.
Bake. Baking means cooking in the oven with dry heat all around the food. It cooks evenly from every side, so you can mostly leave it alone.
How you’ll know: It’s golden on top and passes the recipe’s check, like a clean toothpick or the right temperature.
Golden brown. Golden brown is the color of good toast, somewhere between yellow and light brown. It means the outside is cooked and crisp but not burnt.
How you’ll know: It looks like toast and smells toasty; dark brown with a bitter smell means it went too far.
Timer: 22 min
Let it sit 5 minutes, then serve with bread or a green salad.
Timer: 5 min
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
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