lemon parmesan broccoli white bean casserole

A long recipe name but the operative key words here are "white bean". White beans connect to the favorite Campbell's soup from bob's childhood, one of many such soups that anchored bob's lunches at home while overloading his salt intake unnecessarily. Bean with Bacon soup. Often bob would slurp up the liquid while saving the beans for a bean sandwich on squooshy white bread (delivered to the home in Wonder Bread trucks in those days). Luckily bob survived childhood. But later in life he noticed the distinct absence of white beans in his diet. Here they join a grain bob never heard of until late in life: farro, consipicuously not in the recipe name at the top of this page. Carried by the ancient Roman soldiers as food rations they say, but hyped as a pretty nutritious grain in modern times. bob tries to convince Ani to try new farro dishes regularly, hoping to get occasional permission. She is after all, the kitchen boss. A substitute for her lack of time in chemistry lab these days post Big Pharma career and occasional adjunct chem lab teaching.

This recipe is from the Eating Well website which is associated with the cooking magazine we used to occasionally grab at supermarket checkout line displays last century, but which we eventually discontinued with the availability of infinite recipe ideas online, including Eating Well itself as in this case. In fact with the Facebook stream of random recipes plus food related emails, it is quite overwhelming in the twenty-first century information overload environment.

bob really loved this recipe. 

ingredients

starting ingredients

1 T extra-virgin olive oil

1/2 c chopped red onion

1 1/2 c farro, rinsed

3 cs unsalted vegetable broth

1 large head broccoli, cut into bite-size florets (about 6 cs) but this is really "to taste"

2 (15.5-ounce) cans no-salt-added cannellini beans, rinsed

cooking fluid mix

1 c whole milk

1 T all-purpose flour

1T grated lemon zest

2 t dried oregano

1 t garlic powder

1/2 t crushed red pepper

1/4 t salt

finisher ingredients

3 oz cream cheese, at room temperature (substitutable by mascarpone for more Italian authenticity)

1 1/2 c grated parmigiano (parmesan in Americano!)

2 T lemon juice

instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly coat a 9-by-13-inch baking dish with cooking spray.
2. Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven over medium heat until shimmering. Add the onion; cook, stirring often, until translucent and softened, about 4 minutes.
3. Add rinsed farro; cook, stirring constantly, until lightly toasted and nutty, about 2 minutes.
4. Add the broth; bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low; cover and cook, undisturbed, until the farro is slightly tender, about 15 minutes.
5. Add broccoli florets to the pot (do not stir); cover and cook over medium-low heat until the liquid is absorbed, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat.
6. Add the beans and the cooking fluid mix; gently stir until evenly combined.
7. Transfer the farro mixture to the prepared baking dish. Dollop and nestle the cream cheese in about 5 dollaps into the farro mixture. Sprinkle with the parmigiano; cover loosely with foil.
8. Bake until heated through and the cheese is melted, about 15 minutes.
9. Drizzle with the lemon juice; stir the mixture to incorporate the cream cheese and lemon juice.

notes

1. Eating Well: creamy lemon-parmesan broccoli & white bean casserole. This is the recipe until we complete this project.
2. Campbell's bean with bacon soup.
3. Another recently enjoyed alternative white bean pasta: spinach cannellini pasta.
4. Illustrations available.