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Butter Beans with Roasted Tomatoes

Butter beans cooked with roasted tomatoes, garlic and a red bell pepper, served over Greek yogurt.
Course Light Meal, Side Dish
Servings 4

Ingredients

  • 1-1/2 pounds Campari tomatoes and 8 ounces of cherry tomatoes (or all Campari—see Kitchen Notes)
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
  • 6 garlic cloves, divided
  • 1 red bell pepper to roast
  • 1 small onion, chopped
  • 1 teaspoon dried tarragon
  • 1/2 pound ground Italian sausage, optional (see Kitchen Notes)
  • 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
  • 1 tablespoon sweet paprika
  • 3/4 cup red wine or a combination of red wine and red vermouth
  • 2 15-ounce cans of butter beans, drained
  • plain whole-milk Greek style yogurt, about 1/4 cup per serving

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 375ºF. Prepare a baking pan with a silicone baking sheet mat or parchment paper. Quarter the Campari tomatoes and put them on the baking pan, then add the cherry tomatoes. Add 2 tablespoons olive oil and toss everything gently with your hands, then crush 4 of the garlic cloves and scatter them on around.
  • Put the baking sheet in the oven and bake the tomatoes for 20 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and set aside while you do everything else.
  • While the tomatoes are baking, roast the pepper: holding it with metal tongs over the flame on your stove, rotate it until the skin is pretty much all blistered and black. You can also set it directly on the grate over the burner, turning it occasionally. Put it into a paper bag, fold up the top, and let it sit for a few minutes. Then take it out of the bag and rub off the blackened skin. Cut the pepper into small chunks, discarding the seeds and stem. Alternatively, you may use jarred roasted peppers.
  • Then, in a heavy-bottomed nonstick skillet, cook the sausage, chopping it into small chunks. When it is well browned, scoop out of the pan and drain on a paper towel. Wipe out the pan. Add the rest of the olive oil, then add the onion and the rest of the garlic. Sauté for about 2 minutes. Add the paprika and the roasted pepper, stir well and sauté for a couple more minutes. Add the tarragon, fennel seeds, and wine, stir together, then cook for another minute or two. Add the roasted tomatoes, all at once, with a little salt, as well as the reserved sausage. Simmer it all for five minutes to meld everything together. Add the beans, stir, and cook for two or three minutes more. Give it all a good grinding of black pepper; taste in case the salt needs adjusting. The mixture should have just enough liquid to coat everything without pooling.
  • Next, prepare your serving plates: drop 3 or 4 tablespoons of plain Greek yogurt in the center of each plate, then spread into a flat circle with the back of a spoon.
  • Spoon the tomato-bean mix into the center of the yogurt, spreading it carefully. That’s it.

Kitchen Notes

The tomatoes. We like Camparis because they are the only store-bought tomato in the US that tastes like a garden tomato. Or almost like a garden tomato, anyway. We mixed in a few cherry tomatoes from our garden—we haven’t had a hard frost yet and the plants are bravely still producing—and you can add in up to 100 percent cherry or grape tomatoes.
The sausage. Yes, you can omit it entirely, making this vegetarian. We find the sausage adds a nice little extra flavor and texture, though.
The serving plate. Use a regular dinner plate or a shallow soup plate.