Romanian white bean mash with caramelized onions (fasole bătută)
Silky garlicky mashed white beans topped with sweet caramelized onions and paprika oil, eaten with bread and pickles, a humble Romanian dish that’s creamy, cheap and surprisingly addictive.
- 40 min total
- 25 min hands-on
- Follow-a-recipe easy
- Serves 4
- About $1.82 a serving
- 510 calories
- Good the next day
- Vegan
- Dairy-free
Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- 2 yellow onions, halved and thinly sliced
- 2 cans cannellini beans, drained, 3 tbsp liquid saved
- 2 cloves garlic
- ½ lemon
- 4 slices sourdough bread, for serving
- 4 dill pickles, for serving
From your pantry
- ⅓ cup olive oil, divided
- 1 tsp salt, divided
- 1½ tsp paprika
Each serving has about 510 calories, 19 g protein, 67 g carbs and 20 g fat, and costs about $1.82 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No yellow onions? White onions or red onions work.
- No lemons? Limes work.
- No sourdough bread? French bread works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
Heat 3 tablespoons of the oil in a large over medium heat. Add the onions and of salt and cook, stirring every few minutes, 20 to 25 minutes, until deep and sweet.
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.
Pinch. A pinch is what you can hold between your thumb and two fingers, less than an eighth of a teaspoon. It’s a small, forgiving amount, so there’s no need to measure.
How you’ll know: It’s a light sprinkle you can barely see on the food, not a little pile.
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.
Medium heatTimer: 22 min
Dolly’s tip: Low and slow is what makes them sweet. Add a splash of water if they start to catch.Stir the paprika into the onions and take the pan off the heat right away.
Dolly’s tip: Paprika scorches in seconds, so off the heat it goes.Meanwhile, blend or mash the beans with the garlic, the saved bean liquid, the rest of the oil, the lemon juice and ½ teaspoon salt until very smooth and fluffy.
Dolly’s tip: A blender gives the smoothest result. A potato masher works too; just keep going.Taste the bean mash and add salt or lemon if it needs it.
Spread the beans on a platter and spoon the onions and all their paprika oil over the top.
Serve with bread for scooping and pickles on the side.
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.
