This white bean puttanesca recipe is deliciously savory and salty, with capers, briney olives, artichoke hearts, and creamy white beans. I like to serve it with easy, homemade garlic bread for dipping.
I feel like I crossed a milestone this month.
I have begun…to meal plan. And not just scribble down a few rough ideas on the back of an envelope on my way out the door to the market, either. No. I’m sitting down (at my coffee table, so don’t take me for too rigid a woman), for about twenty minutes, on Sunday afternoons and thinking about recipes. It’s something I did years ago when I lived in Philadelphia and then in Seattle — something I was much better about when I was also better about budgeting and wearing non-yoga pants more than three times per week, but now, I’m getting back into the swing of things.
The recipes, you’d think, would be the easy part. What am I in the mood for? But think of those times when someone asks you to name your favorite books…or your favorite movies…and how you draw a complete and utter blank. It’s kind of like that with the recipe ideas. So to keep me from the same ol’ “…uuuhhhh….taco salad?” song-and-dance, I’ve come up with a system of saving the recipes that I find online during the week in a Google Doc, and then using that to narrow down my list.
All through the work week, whenever I find a recipe on a blog (or Pinterest, or anywhere, really) that looks and sounds absolutely delicious, I just quickly copy the URL and paste it into a document or, for Mac/iPhone users — into NotePad, because the two sync. You could also Pin it, if you’re active on Pinterest, but I don’t know, Pinterest really makes me feel all the feelings, and none of them are anything but absolutely drowning in overwhelm. Point is: at the end of the week, you simply go through all the recipes you’ve collected, and pick out the ones you’d like to make. It’s a little work in advance, and it pays off.
So. About this dish. Took me long enough to get here, didn’t it?
White bean puttanesca. WITH GARLIC BREAD. It was inspired by two things: 1.) Chicken Puttanesca in a Foil Packet — a recipe in the latest issue of Everyday with Rachael Ray magazine, and 2.) The garlic bread that I ate at Buca di Beppo on Saturday night. Was I interested in the Puttanesca? Of course, sure. Was I interested in creating a saucy something-or-other in which to dip garlic bread? Next question.
How To Make This White Bean Puttanesca Recipe – Step By Step
- Make the Puttanesca: Add the olive oil to a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and sauté, stirring frequently, until just beginning to soften, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the garlic and stir constantly for 30 seconds. Add the diced tomatoes and bring the pan to a simmer.
- Add the cannellini beans and cook for 5 minutes.
- Stir in the artichoke hearts, olives, and capers. Simmer for 5 more minutes. Taste for seasonings,
- Make the garlic bread: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Slice the baguette in half length-wise, and then in half width-wise, to create four 5- or 6-inch sections. Place the baguette pieces on a baking sheet cut-side-up.
- In a small skillet or saucepan, heat the remaining two tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat. Add the garlic and stir constantly to ensure that it doesn’t burn. Sauté until just faintly brown, fragrant, and soft, 1 to 2 minutes, lowering the heat if necessary so that the garlic does not burn. Remove the pan from heat immediately and pour the garlic oil into a small bowl. **Note that you want to to infuse the oil and to soften the garlic, but it does burn very easily, so feel free to lower the heat or remove the pan from heat occasionally.
- In a small bowl, combine the oregano, red pepper flakes, and salt.
- Using a pastry brush, brush each slice of baguette evenly with the infused oil. Sprinkle liberally with the oregano-pepper mixture. Bake for 7 to 10 minutes, or until golden brown.
- Serve immediately: Divide the puttanesca among four serving bowls. Garnish each with 2 tablespoons of fresh basil and 1 tablespoon of Parmesan cheese. Serve with garlic bread.
White Bean Puttanesca Recipe – Perfect For Meal Planning
This dish is part of my third full week of meal planning. It follows all of my meal planning guidelines. According to, well OK yes, just me, the recipe must be:
1. Healthful (in accordance with my own personal standards, which are admittedly not crazy daisy high, but are reasonable, flexible, and realistic). In general, I like to cook in a wholesome, light way at home. I reserve the more over-the-top, extra-cheesy, ooey-gooey meals for restaurants — unless I’m entertaining.
2. Prep to plate in under an hour. This, unless I’m making something on a weekend, is entirely reasonable. Most meals that I make Monday through Friday can be prepared in thirty minutes.
3. No crazy ingredients. None of the recipe ingredients can be things that I wouldn’t use for at least five other recipes that I can think of off the top of my head. OR, if I do need an exotic spice, I MIGHT be more likely to buy it IF I can buy it in a smaller quantity at the bulk spice bin at Whole Foods — which, by the way, was a genius invention.
4. Budget-friendly. This is something that I’ll focus on MOST of the time. Say, 98% of the time. There will be weeks when I’m going to buy the $15/lb salmon or the $16/lb sea scallops, so I’m just basically preparing both of us mentally and emotionally now.
Cannellini Beans – Perfect For This Puttanesca Recipe
I chose to use cannellini beans here because they seemed to be more cost effective and much faster to cook with, and I love the way that they combine with the kalamata olives, artichokes, and diced tomatoes texturally to form a bean salad of sorts. I wanted to say hot bean salad, but that doesn’t sound so good, does it? The sauce for all of this is made simply from onions and lots of garlic sautéed in olive oil, and a can of undrained diced tomatoes. It’s bright and slightly salty in that lovely Mediterranean way olives are, and made a teeny bit briney from the addition of capers.
Delicious and Easy Garlic Bread!
The garlic bread is as straight-forward and perfect as when my mother used to split hamburger buns, lay them open face on a baking sheet, butter them to high heaven, and then broil them until the tops blistered. This time, though, I used garlic-infused olive oil. A halved baguette, cut into five-inch sections, brushed with oil, sprinkled with red pepper flakes and oregano, and then baked. I obviously burnt mine about a million times, then burnt my hands. Then the oven door fell off — true story. Then I took these photographs anyway, and ate this meal sitting in Sabrina’s room on the floor where I took the photographs. Isn’t that precisely the way it would go?
Check Out These Other Delicious Mediterranean Recipes
Mediterranean Grilled Shrimp and Vegetables (and the Perfect Summer Wine Pairing!)
Mediterranean Chicken and Artichoke Salad
Sourdough Panzanella with Roasted Red Peppers and White Beans
Greek Chicken Fajitas with Broccoli Rabe
Mediterranean Pasta by Well Plated
Everyday Mediterranean Salad by Gimme Some Oven
If you have tried this White Bean Puttanesca recipe, or any other recipe on my blog, then please rate it and let me know how it turned out in the comments below! You can also FOLLOW ME on FACEBOOK, TWITTER, INSTAGRAM and PINTEREST to see more delicious, healthy, family friendly food!
White Bean Puttanesca with Garlic Bread
Ingredients
For the Puttanesca:
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 medium onion thinly sliced (about 1/2 cup)
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 15- ounce can diced tomatoes undrained
- 2 15- ounce cans cannellini beans rinsed and drained
- 1/2 of a 15-ounce can artichoke hearts quartered (in water or brine)
- 2/3 cup pitted kalamata olives chopped (1/2 of a ~10-ounce jar of olives in water or brine)
- 2 tablespoons drained capers
- 1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
For the Garlic Bread:
- 1/2 of a standard-size baguette or 1 demi-baguette about 12-inches long
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano
- 2 teaspoons red pepper flakes
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Make the Puttanesca: Add the olive oil to a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and sauté, stirring frequently, until just beginning to soften, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the garlic and stir constantly for 30 seconds. Add the diced tomatoes and bring the pan to a simmer.
- Add the cannellini beans and cook for 5 minutes.
- Stir in the artichoke hearts, olives, and capers. Simmer for 5 more minutes. Taste for seasonings,
- Make the garlic bread: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Slice the baguette in half length-wise, and then in half width-wise, to create four 5- or 6-inch sections. Place the baguette pieces on a baking sheet cut-side-up.
- In a small skillet or saucepan, heat the remaining two tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat. Add the garlic and stir constantly to ensure that it doesn’t burn. Sauté until just faintly brown, fragrant, and soft, 1 to 2 minutes, lowering the heat if necessary so that the garlic does not burn. Remove the pan from heat immediately and pour the garlic oil into a small bowl. **Note that you want to to infuse the oil and to soften the garlic, but it does burn very easily, so feel free to lower the heat or remove the pan from heat occasionally.
- In a small bowl, combine the oregano, red pepper flakes, and salt.
- Using a pastry brush, brush each slice of baguette evenly with the infused oil. Sprinkle liberally with the oregano-pepper mixture. Bake for 7 to 10 minutes, or until golden brown.
- Serve immediately: Divide the puttanesca among four serving bowls. Garnish each with 2 tablespoons of fresh basil and 1 tablespoon of Parmesan cheese. Serve with garlic bread.
Notes
Calories 393, Fat 15g, Carb 56g, Fiber 15g, Sugars 7g, Protein 16g
When I meal plan I have the same requirement! I’m so into meal planning, it’s hard for me to grocery shop without a strong plan!
Love the meal planning idea and the recipe :) thanks, hope you are well too! <3
Thanks for the posts, i’m looking for extra motivation so your recipes are a great help. Check out my progress and give me some techniques if you can. http://www.scalewrestling.com
We meal plan every week before making a grocery list.
What do you do when you don’t meal plan?
Wing it in the grocery store?
Go to the store every day?
Eat out a lot?
Doesn’t it get expensive to shop or eat out every day?
Why use can beans instead of healthy dry beans?
I got my grocery list here, it’s been so helpful maintaining what I eat! http://triggerbody.com
Sounds great, Andie! NOW…Hows your Mama doin’ We need an UPDATE!! :-)
I used to meal plan extensively. Not so much anymore. I kinda do three days at a time, take note of what i already have and what i would need and keep it in my head. I find that I’m less stressed out. I bought a stand up freezer last fall and cooked a lot of soups/stews over the winter and froze them. I can take something out of the freezer on a whim to defrost. When a particular item was on sale, I stocked up so it’s easy to grab some chicken or ground turkey out of the freezer and then plan a meal around that based on what I have stocked up in my pantry. Last night I took out a peppercorn crusted pork tenderloin to defrost. I bought a bag of steamable fingerling potatoes this weekend and I always always always have steamable veggies in the freezer. Quick and easy for during the week.
This looks really yummy!!
This looks absolutely delicious! We love healthy meals like this that leave you feeling totally satisfied and not so much deprived. Definitely making this soon =)
This recipe looks delicious and healthy. Can’t wait to give it a try. Thanks
for sharing.
I just wanted to say that I really think you are wonderful! I can’t wait for your book to hit the stores and hope you come to LA to do a signing. I will even bring my girl since you’ve always been so encouraging about my effort to be the best mom i can be.
hope NY is treating you well. looking forward to more form your beautiful brain!
Right now I’m on a meal plan kick so I love this
(I tend to do it, love it, then get too busy/lazy and have to rediscover meal planning after my third day in a row of breakfast for dinner)
Might even freeze some for my work lunches and kill two aspirational money saving/healthy eating birds with one stone. Thanks Andie!
xxx Nicola
Any news on the book?! So pumped!
Your photos alone make me want to try this recipe. It looks beautiful and delicious! Thanks for sharing, Andie! :)
The photos are stunning.
Made this today during a lazy afternoon in Brooklyn. Verdict: delicious!
As much as I love Pinterest I agree – too.Much.Choice. This looks all the yumminess – will def try it.
Andie, so happy to see some recipes being posted on the blog! I missed it! (In a totally non-stalkerly way, to be sure ;P) I almost commented on one of your instagram pics the other day to let you know your readers were (impatiently) looking forward to your next post! :D
Meal planning is definitely something I try to do often. It saves my sanity at the grocery store! :)
Yessss! Finally!!!! I have missed your recipe posts so much and this looks fabulous! So glad to hear you are getting in the swing of things again and meal planning. I’ve been trying to avoid processed sugars and refined carbs until Easter so I’ve been doing a lot of meal planning to keep myself on track. If anyone is interested, I’ve been posted them for the last 6 weeks. Each contain at least 7 dinner options and a handful of snacks and breakfasts as well as some healthy, whole-food recipes from other blogers I admire! http://grazingdani.blogspot.de/2014/02/sugar-detox-meal-plan-week-1.html
Looks yummy! Can’t wait for your book to come out! I lived off of your salad base and salad recipes that you made for your mom during her weight loss journey for my lunches. It helped me to lose 28 lbs and win the biggest loser contest that we had at work, so THANK YOU THANK YOU!!
This looks really tasty. I’m a big fan of garlic bread myself…so this would be a great combination for me to test out some time :)
Hello Andie,
this looks like Mediterranean food to me. I am from Greece and when I saw the photo of your meal, it looked so familiar in terms of the food ingredients!
I love artichokes, and the combination with garlic bread and beans is fantastic.
This was amazing!!! It’s also a very versatile recipe, add a bit more of this, a little less of that. All I can say is: I’ve made it twice in ten days!! Also, all the best to your Mom!! I so miss her posts, hope she is doing great! I’ve lost 34 pounds so far–from 189 to 155 and aiming for 150. Your mom and her journey were/continue to be steadfast companions through my own health/weight loss adventure, which began last July (2013).
This recipe looks wonderful. Can’t wait to try it. F.Y.I. For those of you who freeze soups or stews, freeze them FLAT in double zip bags. I fill a soup bowl full and pour into bag, pressing out air. That way you have one serving per bag. They thaw easily and even if they are still a little icy, you can slide into a pan and put on low and thaw and heat at the same time. You can stack the bags in the freezer to save space. Much better frozen in bags than in plastic containers that don’t save space and take forever to thaw. ‘Nuf said.
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I made this and it was delicious! So easy to make, and super healthy too. Thanks Andie!
YUM! :)
This looks amazing! I’m not much of a meal planner. It seems to stress me out and send me into feelings of overwhelm, much like Pinterest :-) I tend to shop for what looks good and is priced right and then figure out what to make from it day by day! We are a family of two so I can usually cook once and then eat 2 or 3 times which is nice.
Love your suggestion for copying recipe URLs to a word document or notes!! i’m going to implement this immediately.
Thanks so much.
Don’t feel bad about wearing yoga pants more than 3 times for week. I do too. And I don’t feel any guilt! :) Love the meal planning! You go girl!
Wow what a great recipe, I’m going to try this! I love artichokes and it goes really well with garlic :)
My husband and 11 month old baby love this recipe! It’s one great way I sneak beans and veggies into my babies diet. My husband was weary of a bean dish but he was pleasantly surprised. This dish is and explosion of flavors. Love it.
I definitely need to try this out! I might substitute the artichoke for eggplat however. I have never had artichoke, but something about it terrifies the daylights out of my pallate haha. I will definitely be prepping this after my detox next week! Great recipe, also garlic bread minus the butter? I’ll be having THAT soon, I can promise you that!
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amazing recipe! i’m pinning it in hopes of making it in the near future :)
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Hello! I came across this recipe on Pinterest while trying to recreate a soup I had at a restaurant. I hyperlinked your post in my blog. Thanks for the inspiration :) https://chiccheapchicago.wordpress.com/2016/09/19/tkt-white-bean-kale-soup/
I’ve made this twice. Tonight I served it over a small pile of angel hair. I LOVE this recipe. It’s perfect as it. So delicious and healthy.
This is absolutely delicious!!! I love puttanesca anyway, but never thought of adding cannellini beans!! I added anchovy and red pepper flake, yum! I can’t do the bread so I put it over quinoa. I have a new favorite lunch! Thank you!
Made this for my mom for dinner tonight and we loved it! Served over rice and with vegan parm! Super tasty– will definitely make again!
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Very, very good. Has me thinking of recreating my favorite pasta dishes using beans instead. Thanks for the inspiration
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no such thing as Putanesca without ANCHOVIES!
Man – wish I read all the steps before I added all the garlic to e pan! Please edit step 1 so it notes to only use 1/3 of the garlic called for.
This looks delicious. I’m not a fan of olives or capers. What would you recommend as a good substitute?
Just kidding- I’m okay with capers. I had a brain fart.
Really good soup! I loved it!
We all loved it! Split it out into veggie version and one w Chorizo after everything was added. Also added a few handfuls of spinach to add the good nutrients.
I have been making this recipe for years! There is nothing else like this that I make…the flavour combinations are so good! Just leaving a comment now as I have come back to get to recipe to make it again today… :)
I hate to rain on your parade but I see most of the people who replied have not made this recipe. I made it with REAL beans, not the canned ones. If I was doing it again, I would add green peppers and the Italian tomatoes. The garlic bread was delicious but I do not think I will make the soup again. Although it was filling, there seemed to be something lacking in the flavour department.