The Brown Bag Lunch: White Beans with Salami

I haven’t written a Brown Bag Lunch post in ages. I’m still making new and hopefully interesting dishes for my husband’s lunch, so I don’t know what my problem is. Maybe it’s that I’m jealous I don’t actually get to eat any (or much) of what I make for him. It’s kind of hard to recommend something when you only try a bite or two, you know? I can take my husband’s word for it, but he has a rather… interesting… palate sometimes. Which is why when he said he wanted barbeque beans with salami in it, I looked at him funny. It’s not that I think it would taste bad, I just thought other combinations would be better. I ended up making the dish with a more tomato-y tasting sauce than a traditional thick and (usually) over-sweet barbeque sauce, mostly due to what I had on hand, but also because, well, I wanted to. I AM still the cook, after all! But also because I couldn’t find a whole package of Gallo Italian Dry Salami, the kind with the rind on it. All the store now carries is the thinly sliced version, and I knew that would get totally lost in barbeque sauce. The results with the tomato-y sauce were fantastic, however! And luckily I made enough that I got two servings out of it, too! The bad news is: I didn’t measure anything, so neither I, nor you, will be able to duplicate it exactly. That doesn’t bother me—I’m not one of those cooks who makes the same thing taste exactly the same twice. If you like precision, however, um, I’m sorry I can’t help you…

Ingredients:
2 cups dry Great Northern White Beans
14 oz tomato sauce
a couple ounces Italian Dry Salami, diced or sliced
smoked paprika, about a tablespoon
molasses, a couple tablespoons
garlic powder, about a teaspoon
a pinch of cumin
fresh thyme, about 4 sprigs
salt and pepper to taste

Guidelines:

Cook your beans. You can do a quick soak, like I do, or an overnight soak, if you prefer. To do a quick soak, cover your beans with plenty of water, sprinkle in some salt and pepper, some garlic powder, if you like, and bring to a boil. Remove from heat, and let sit for several hours. Drain. Rinse. Put your beans back in the pot, cover with plenty of fresh water (about 2-3x more than beans), add more salt, pepper, garlic powder if you like, and a couple of thyme sprigs. Bring to a simmer, and simmer for about an hour until they reach the desired tenderness. Drain.

For the sauce, heat the tomato sauce with the smoked paprika, molasses, garlic powder, and cumin. Simmer on low for about 10-15 minutes to let the flavors meld. Add fresh thyme, diced or sliced salami, and beans. Cook on low for another 5 minutes, or until everything is heated through.

*This recipe made enough for 7 servings of about 1 cup each.