Butter Bean Recipes, Hearty Salads, Stews + Bean Bowls, Vegetarian -
Butter Beans with Ricotta, Lemon + Pesto
Warm Butter Beans with Ricotta, Lemon + Basil Pesto
Rated 4.3 stars by 6 users
Category
Butter Bean Recipes
Servings
2-3
Cook Time
15 minutes
Author:
Hannah Wilding
Zesty lemon, creamy ricotta and punchy pesto, this can be served as a speedy weeknight dinner with a fresh side salad, or topped with some roasted toms for a burst of sweetness and colour. We’ve used a classic basil pesto for this recipe but if it’s wild garlic season, then we recommend omitting the garlic clove and adding a small bunch of wild garlic to the pesto.
Ingredients
A large bunch of fresh basil (roughly 15g)
A good handful of pine nuts, toasted
1 garlic clove
25g parmesan cheese, grated (or veggie alternative)
4-5 tbsp Olive Oil
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1 x 700g jar of Bold Bean Co Queen Butter Beans (or 2 x 400g tins)
250g ricotta cheese (refrigerated)
1 large lemon (juice + zest)
Directions
Add the toasted pine nuts, fresh basil, garlic clove, grated parmesan cheese and the olive oil to a blender or food processor and blitz until you reach an oozy, puree-like consistency; you may need to add more oil to bind the mixture together.
Next, drain out about half of the liquid from the butter beans + pour the rest into a frying pan. Gently warm through over a low heat. You could skip this step if you wanted a cold, fresh salad in the summer.
Spoon the beans onto your serving plate and dollop over the ricotta cheese. Drizzle over the pesto and grate over the zest of half a lemon and a squeeze of it’s juice. Finish with some cracked black pepper + an extra drizzle of olive oil, if you fancy.
Amelia Christie-Miller
Hey Ethel! Thank you for this comment. Are you using our Organic White Beans? Often with these you may have to give them a wee rinse, but they still taste fabulous afterwards!
Ethel Shaw
Non of the ‘liquid’ actually drains from the jar. It is more like a gel between the beans. I don’t like rinsing them as I fear losing the best of the Flavour in the gel. Any ideas on how to do this recipe without the liquid?