Marry me butter beans
Big, buttery beans in a creamy sun-dried tomato and parmesan sauce with spinach, the famous marry me sauce made meatless and ready in 25 minutes.
- 25 min total
- 20 min hands-on
- Anyone can make this
- Serves 4
- About $2.50 a serving
- 450 calories
- Vegetarian
Dolly says: I’d make this on a weeknight. It’s on the table in 25 minutes.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- 1 shallot, minced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- ⅓ cup sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
- ¾ cup vegetable broth
- ¾ cup heavy cream
- ½ cup grated parmesan
- 2 cans butter beans, drained and rinsed
- 3 cups baby spinach
- 2 tbsp fresh basil, torn (optional)
- ½ French bread, for dipping (optional)
From your pantry
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning
- ¼ tsp red pepper flakes
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp black pepper
Each serving has about 450 calories, 17 g protein, 39 g carbs and 26 g fat, and costs about $2.50 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No grated parmesan? Parmesan wedge works.
- No baby spinach? Kale or arugula works.
- No French bread? Sourdough bread works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
Heat the oil in a large over medium heat. Add the shallot and cook 2 to 3 minutes, until soft.
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: 2 min
Stir in the garlic, sun-dried tomatoes, Italian seasoning and pepper flakes and cook 1 minute, .
Fragrant. Fragrant means cooking until you can clearly smell it, usually garlic or spices, often in about 30 seconds. That’s the moment the flavor is ready, just before it can burn.
How you’ll know: You can smell it from a step back, and garlic is pale gold, not brown.
Medium heat
Pour in the broth, scrape the bottom of the pan, and 2 minutes.
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.
Medium heatTimer: 2 min
Stir in the cream and parmesan and keep stirring until the cheese into the sauce.
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.
Low heat
Dolly’s tip: Keep it at a gentle bubble. A hard boil can make cream split.Add the beans, salt and pepper and 5 minutes, until the sauce is thick enough to coat a spoon.
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.
Low heatTimer: 5 min
Stir in the spinach until it , 1 to 2 minutes.
Wilt. Wilting means cooking leafy greens just until they go soft and collapse. Greens shrink a lot, so a big pile of spinach becomes a small handful, and that’s normal.
How you’ll know: The leaves turn soft and deep green and slump into the pan, usually within a minute or two.
Low heat
Scatter basil over the top and serve with crusty bread for mopping up the sauce.
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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