Photo by Gentl and Hyers, as shown in That Souds So Good cookbook

I received Carla Lalli Music’s cookbook, That Sounds So Good, as a birthday gift from Lydia (Max’s girlfriend) last year, and—as is typical for me—I immediately zeroed in on one recipe and have been making it on repeat ever since. I really need to get better at exploring all the recipes in my beloved cookbooks, but once I find a favorite, it’s hard to stray.

Maybe this will be the year I branch out, and I’ll give The Lalli Family’s Spaghetti and Clams or Black Bean Soup with Topper Whoppers a whirl. In the meantime, I highly recommend you try Music’s delicious Brothy Basil Beans. Stephan is a big fan and doesn’t mind if they make it to the table a few times a month.

The pesto for this dish takes a little longer than my usual go-to, but I recently learned a great trick from Max’s Hot Side Substack: blanching your herbs before blending them helps preserve their bright color and flavor, and prevents browning. If you haven’t subscribed to Hot Side yet, you should—it’s full of food inspiration and smart kitchen tips!

Note from Music: One thing I’ve learned about beans is that some types fall apart when they’re cooked no matter what you do. It’s not your fault! Some beans have very thin, delicate skin and a fine texture. On the other side of the spectrum are chubby white beans, like gigante, Tarbais, and baby limas. They are naturally predisposed to stay intact on the outside and get super creamy inside, and that’s desirable here. As they cook, they’ll absorb the flavor of the basil in the cooking liquid. But listen—if your beans fall apart, it won’t ruin the dish. The broth might be a little thicker—no big deal!

Note from Kitchen511: If you don’t have dried beans in the house, you can substitute a few jars of Jovial Beans (or canned beans) and follow the same steps but cook them for a total of 30 minutes vs. an hour.

Serves 6-8 (small servings)

Ingredients

1 pound dried large white beans, such as gigante, soaked overnight if possible (or use about 4 jars of pre-cooked beans, as mentioned above in the Note)
1 tablespoon kosher salt, plus more for seasoning; freshly ground pepper
6 garlic cloves, unpeeled, divided
1 shallot (skin on), halved
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
1 medium bunch basil (4 ounces), divided
1/4 cup raw (natural) almonds. (Can substitute unsalted cashews, peanuts, walnuts, hazelnuts, or shelled pistachios.)
1 lemon

Preparation

Place beans in a medium pot and cover with cold water by several inches (if they’re soaked, no need to drain; go ahead and cook the beans in their soaking liquid, adding more water to cover if needed).
Add 1 tbsp. salt, 3 garlic cloves, the shallot, a few healthy glugs of oil, and half the basil (including stems). Bring to a boil over high heat, then lower the heat to a very gentle simmer. Cooked uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the beans are extremely tender and creamy but not falling to bits, about 1 hour (unoaked beans will take longer). If the water level gets low, top it off and adjust heat to keep the simmer extremely mellow.
Meanwhile, bring a medium pot of salted water to a boil. Add the remaining 3 garlic cloves and the almonds (or other nuts of your choice) and cook until slightly softened, 5 minutes. This will diffuse some of the garlic’s bite and bring out its sweetness, and blanching softens the almonds so they become smooth in the sauce. Transfer to a small plate with a slotted spoon and let cool.
Pluck the leaves from the remaining basil (aim for about 1 cup packed). Stir basil into the boiling water and cook until wilted, 1 minute. Transfer basil to the plate with the garlic and almonds and spread it out to cool.
Peel garlic and transfer to a food processor. Pinch almond skins to release nuts (kind of like you’re popping an edamame out of the pod); add the almonds to the processor.
Finely grate zest of the lemon into processor and pulse until the nuts and garlic are finely chopped, 30 seconds.
Squeeze out excess liquid from basil and add it to the processor, along with 1/4 cup oil. Blend until the pesto is creamy; taste and season with salt and pepper and blitz again to combine.
Pluck out basil stems and shallot from the beans. Serve beans and their broth topped with spoonfuls of pesto.