Tonight's "Dinner on a Tight Budget"...Linguine with White Bean Puree

[Amerigo Vespucci]

Tastes even better than it sounds, and it's a cheap, low-fat, low-sodium (if you use low or reduced sodium chicken stock), filling meal.

White Bean Puree

Ingredients

* 2 cloves garlic
* 2 cups chicken stock
* 2 cups canned white beans
* 2 tablespoons olive oil
* 2 teaspoons white wine vinegar
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
* Hot pepper sauce

Directions

In a saucepan, sweat the garlic in chicken stock. Add the beans and cook until heated through.

Transfer the mixture to a food processor or blender and puree with the remaining ingredients, except hot pepper sauce. Adjust seasoning, and add hot sauce, to taste. Keep warm until ready to serve.

Use this as a sauce for freshly-cooked linguine.

[Auggie]

1. Sounds great -- kind of like Pasta Fazul without tomatoes. What's the wine?

[Amerigo Vespucci]

2. A chianti classico...

Antinori Peppoli Chianti Classico '06

:toast:

[Auggie]

3. Yum -- I can be down in two hours

[NightWatcher]

4. tighter budget= 3 cans of cheap beer

hell, I ate a little lunch

[Amerigo Vespucci]

5. The results:

The photo looks like a plate of plain linguine, but the beauty of the sauce is that it lightly coats every single strand. If you look at the left side of the photo you can see a couple of places where it's glistening and the sauce is clearly visible.

What the recipe doesn't spell out is the fact that when you put the pasta water on to boil, you need to keep the sauce at a low simmer. Between the time the water comes to a boil and the pasta is cooked, the sauce reduces from "thin and watery" to a sauce-like consistency. You need to keep a low heat and stir every few minutes.

I use red pepper flakes in place of the hot sauce. It gives it a nice little "kick" that doesn't interfere with the other flavors.

:toast:

[Auggie]

6. Bookmarked

For tomorrow night :thumbsup:

[Amerigo Vespucci]

7. It really is like pasta e fagioli without the tomatoes (or meat).

If you like pasta e fagioli I promise you that you won't be disappointed. Just make sure that you keep an eye on it and stir occasionally while the pasta is cooking.

:toast:

[gblady]

8. looks delicious!

I added it to my recipe collection and will give it a whirl tomorrow!
Going to try it with veggie broth....

[InkAddict]

9. White beans are a wonderful food...

We had White Chicken Chili leftovers tonight. Remember, a bean and a carb = a complete protein, but don't forget to add a fresh fruit and/or veggie.