Tuscan Shrimp with White Beans

This recipe is based on a recipe from Michael Chiarello. It is really good, really simple and really fast. Just have all of the ingredients out and ready to go before you start cooking. I would suggest some good crusty bread with this.

Tuscan Shrimp with White Beans

3 cups canned Cannellini Beans

1/4 cup plus 2 tbs extra virgin olive oil (I cut back on this a little bit)

16 large shrimp, peeled and deveined

3 cloves of garlic peeled and sliced

1/2 tsp chili flakes

1 cup diced tomatoes, canned or fresh, peeled and seeded

1/2 cup whole, fresh basil leaves

1 tbs lemon juices

salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

2 tbs Italian flat-leaf parsley, chopped

Extra Virgin Olive Oil for drizzling

Drain the white beans and put them in a skillet. (Michael says to save the liquid you drained form the beans and add just enough back to the beans to moisten them. Because this liquid is high in sodium, I added a couple of tablespoons of water.) Add 2 tbs of the olive oil and bring beans to a low simmer. Keep them warm while you prepare the shrimp.

Heat 1/4 cup olive oil in a large skillet over high heat. Add the shrimp, cook for 2 minutes, tossing frequently. Remove the shrimp and set aside. Add the garlic to the pan and saute until the garlic browns. Add the chili flakes and cook for 1 minute. Add the tomato and the basil and stir briefly, then add the lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper. Cook for 1 minute and then add the shrimp back to the pan. Toss well and cook briefly to reheat the shrimp. Remove the shrimp.

Spoon the white beans on platter or individual plates. Drizzle them with the best olive oil you have, and then top with the shrimp. Serve warm.

Grilled Tuna Steak on White Bean Puree

All of the cooking for this recipe can be done on the grill, making it a good choice for those hot days when you don't want to heat up the kitchen.

Gilled Tuna Steak on White Bean Puree

Serves 2

1 can white beans (I used Cannellni, but other white beans will work) drained and rinsed

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 tbs olive oil plus oil for white beans

2 Tuna Steaks

Juice from 1/2 lemon

10 cherry tomatoes cut in half

1 red bell pepper to roast or 1 from a jar

3 fresh basil leaves, finely chopped

Get your grill going, while it is heating up mix 1 tbs olive oil and lemon juice in a plastic bag. Add tuna steaks to bag and them marinade. Take the pepper and place it on the grill grate. Turn it as each side get blistered. After the pepper is blistered remove from grill and put in a bowl with plastic wrap over the top. The steam from pepper will make it easy to peel the black skin off from the peppers when you are ready for them. Put the cherry tomatoes n the grill and cook until they shrivel up. Put the tomatoes in a bowel. Take the red pepper and peel it. You will need about 1/2 of pepper. Chop it into a small dice and add to tomatoes. Add 1 tbs of olive oil and and basil.

Put the tuna steaks on the grill and cook to desired doneness. While tuna steaks are cooking take the white beans and puree them in a blender or food processor along with the garlic.

Divide the white bean puree onto 2 plates and spread out in a pattern. Place tuna steak on top of the white beans. Now spoon the tomato red pepper salad over the tuna and around the beans on the plate.

Sausage and Cannellini Bean Crostini

This was not originally a crostini recipe but we always ate it with a crusty bread. Eventually I started serving it on the bread when we had Italian "tapas". My first couple of posts will feature some of my other Italian "tapas" By using turkey sausage you can make this a fairly healthy meal/crostini.

Warning teaching moment. A crostini is a thinly sliced piece of bread, usually a baguette, toasted with olive oil or butter and garlic. Bruschetta is sliced thicker, and generally grilled, then rubbed with garlic and drizzled with olive oil.

For the Crostini

1 baguette sliced into rounds, about 1/4 inch thick about 16 pieces total

Olive oil for drizzling

For the Sausage and Cannellini

2 tsp. olive oil, plus some for drizzling

1/2 small white onion, diced finely

1 Italian Sausage, 4 to 5 oz cut into a small dice

2 cloves of garlic minced

1 can (15.5 oz) of Cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

Preheat oven to 325°.

Drizzle olive oil lightly over the baguette slices. Then put the slices on a baking sheet and put in oven for 5 minutes. Remove from oven, they will not be browned but they will be lightly toasted. Set aside so they will cool.

Saute the onions in the olive oil until they are translucent. Add the sausage pieces, cook until browned. Add the beans and garlic and cook until they are heated through. Drizzle olive oil over the bean mixture. Take a scoop of the beans and place on top of the crostini.