I have a love affair going on…with a blog. In all fairness, there is a person who writes all the blog posts, so I guess you could say I’m in a love affair with The Smitten Kitchen (aka Deb)! Unfortunately it is a very one-sided thing as I am sure she has no idea who I am, but I’m ok with that.
Everyday I check my IG feed to see what Deb has posted to tantalize my tastebuds. Everything she makes looks amazing and I relish the time I spend looking at her creations. If you haven’t noticed, most of my recipes come from her site- and this one is no different. When I saw the post for Pizza Beans, there was no going back. This dish had to be made!
I love this recipe because most of the ingredients (minus the kale) are things that people keep on hand- which makes this a very quarantine friendly dish. I also appreciate that there are hidden veggies, beans instead of pasta, and the use of red wine (which meant I had to open a new bottle and had to pour myself a glass!) I made a couple of picky-eater changes to the dish including: purée- ing the onions so there were no chunks, omitting the celery because Greg hates the flavor, and using tomato sauce instead of chunky tomatoes. The dish came together beautifully and was ready for the cheese and the oven in very little time.
As per Deb’s instructions, I served the pizza beans along side some delightful garlic bread and a big ole salad. As expected, I liked this dish way more than Greg did. He’s more of a purest- he would have preferred pasta instead of beans. I liked the veggie and bean combo. It was a lot of beans for a main dish, though, so I think this would work best as part of a buffet or an appetizer night with friends. Served with a crostini…it would be a showstopper!
right turn ahead 