They've got sauce!

...And they go great as another add on to the Cauliflower-Anchovy Spaghetti below! This recipe was sort of an experiment. Inspired by Gourmet magazine's Tuscan beans recipe, this dish is completely delicious! I'm sure it's as good on toast as it is on the pasta below (I had it with the pasta. Simply dee-lish). One good thing about being at my parents' house is there are always good things in the fridge. I don't have to go shopping for specific ingredients! Hooray! This recipe is especially good if you like smokey foods. Come to think of it, most of my bean recipes are made smokey. I like black beans cooked with chipotle, the best. This recipe below is for Great Northern beans, and I honestly did not anticipate the smokiness, but I was very pleasantly surprised by it.

Smoky Tuscan Bean Recipe

1 c grape tomatoes, halved
2 ripe-as-possible big tomatoes, coarsely chopped, then pureed in blender
1/2 T butter
1 T olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
a handful of fresh thyme, on the stem or not
1/2 an onion, chopped
1 stalk celery, sliced thin
4 c cooked Great Northern beans
1/2 c water
salt and pepper, to taste
freshly grated parmesan or other hard cheese (maybe dry jack?)

Preheat oven to 450. In medium to large saucepan, on medium heat, melt butter with oil and add onion, celery, thyme, and garlic. Sautee until onion is translucent. Add pureed fresh tomato, beans, water, salt and pepper. Bring to boil and simmer on low heat, about 15 min. Pour contents of the saucepan into a casserole dish and put grated cheese on top. Top off with halved grape tomatoes. Cook, uncovered, 30 min in the oven. Remove and let stand. Serve when warm, either on top of Cauliflower-Anchovy Spaghetti below or mashed, on toast. Excellent meal! Mmm Mmm Good!