white beans & roasted red pepper

Another day, another lockdown lunch: posh beans on toast. My son had the classic Heinz with a ton of cheese and I had these with red pepper!

I’ve kept the ingredients to a minimum, so it’s quick to prep and really good value. Two servings should only cost you about £1.50 plus toast or a baked potato. Masses of protein in the beans and a good dose of Vitamin C in the red pepper for very little cost!

Ingredients

Serves 2

• 1 red pepper, whole

• ½ onion, chopped finely

• 1 small garlic clove, minced

• 1 sprig rosemary

• 1 x 400g tin cannellini beans

• ½ tsp sea salt

• Small squeeze of lemon juice

Method

• Put the whole red peppers on a sheet of tin foil and place under a hot grill, blacken on all sides - this should take about 12-15 minutes, turning every 2-3. Wrap in the foil once cooked and leave to cool for 5 minutes, then peel, deseed and chop or tear into ½ cm wide strips.

• Heat about 1 tsp of olive oil in a medium sized saucepan and fry the onions gently for 10 minutes until softened. It’s fine if they brown a little.

• Then stir in the garlic and cook for about 1 minute.

• Next pour in the cannellini beans and add the rosemary strig, simmer for 20 minutes with the lid on but leaving a small gap for a little steam to escape.

• Serve on toasted sourdough or a baked potato topped with the red pepper. Feta or grilled halloumi would also work really well.

tip

• You might need to add a little extra water at the end to loosen the beans.

• You could also have them with a baked potato, grilled halloumi, veggie sausage or top with feta. Meat-eaters could top with crispy bacon or have with white fish, roast chicken or pork sausages.