Kuru Fasulye (Turkish White Bean Stew)

Ingredients

• 400 g cannellini beans, dried, soaked overnight in plenty of cold water
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1 green bell pepper, finely diced
• 3 garlic, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp red pepper paste
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• 2 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp aleppo pepper
• 7 dl vegetable stock, hot
• 2 bay leaf
• 1½ tsp salt
• ½ tsp black pepper
• 300 g white rice

Method

1. 1.

   Boil the beans tender — Drain the soaked beans, cover them generously with fresh cold water in a large pot and boil hard for 10 minutes, skimming off the grey foam. Lower the heat and simmer, half-covered, for 45-55 minutes, until a bean crushes easily between your fingers but the skins are still intact. Keep the cooking water.

2. 2.

   Fry the pepper paste base — Warm the olive oil in a wide heavy pot over medium heat and cook the onion and green pepper for 8-10 minutes, until soft and just turning golden at the edges. Add the garlic for a minute, then stir in the red pepper paste, tomato paste and paprika and fry for 2 minutes, until the oil around them turns deep rust-red.

3. 3.

   Simmer the stew thick — Lift the beans into the pot with a slotted spoon and add the hot stock, bay leaves, aleppo pepper, salt and black pepper, loosening with a ladle of the bean cooking water if the beans are not just covered. Simmer uncovered for 25-30 minutes, stirring now and then, until the sauce is glossy and thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.

4. 4.

   Steam the rice — Meanwhile, rinse the rice until the water runs clear. Put it in a small pan with 450 ml of lightly salted water and a splash of olive oil, bring to a boil, then cover and cook on the lowest heat for 12 minutes without lifting the lid. Leave it to stand, still covered, for 10 minutes.

5. 5.

   Rest and correct the salt — Take the beans off the heat, fish out the bay leaves and let the pot settle for 10 minutes — the stew thickens noticeably as it rests. Taste and correct the salt; it should be assertively seasoned to carry the plain rice.

6. 6.

   Plate beans over rice — Fluff the rice with a fork, mound it into warm bowls and ladle the beans alongside, making sure everyone gets some of the red oil that has risen to the surface.