Mr Darling Lemon Thyme - baked butterbeans w/ tomato & feta

I wrote about this new title recently .

Now the publishers, Harper Collins, have kindly allowed me to reproduce a yummy recipe I made from it:

baked butterbeans w/ tomato + feta SERVES 4–6

This is a perfect weekday dinner, in that it can be prepared in advance and then just popped into the oven for the final bake-off. If you own a large ovenproof frying pan (cast iron is perfect) you can make and cook this all in the one pan – always a bonus in my book. If I’m lucky, I have enough tomato + basil sauce in the freezer to last me at least half of the year, but sometimes I use a humble tin of whole peeled tomatoes instead and add 1 teaspoon unrefined raw sugar to bring out the flavour.

¼ cup (60ml) extra virgin olive oil

1 large onion, finely diced

1 celery stalk, finely diced

1 large carrot, finely diced

3 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves, roughly chopped

1 quantity tomato + basil sauce (page 234) or 400g tin whole peeled tomatoes

2 tablespoons tomato paste dissolved in ¾ cup (185ml) hot water

3 cups cooked butterbeans or 2 x 400g tins butterbeans, rinsed (see NOTE)

¼ cup roughly chopped flat-leaf parsley

100g firm feta cheese,crumbled

+ Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F). 
Heat olive oil in a large frying pan over

medium heat (if you have an ovenproof pan, use it). Add onion, celery,

carrot, garlic, oregano and thyme and cook for 8–10 minutes, stirring often

until onion is translucent. Add tomato sauce or tinned tomatoes with sugar

and tomato paste mixture. 
Cover and cook for a further 10 minutes or until the vegetables are tender.

+ Stir in butterbeans and parsley. Season to taste with sea salt and black

pepper and transfer to a large ovenproof dish (no need, if you’re using

an ovenproof frying pan). Scatter with feta and bake, uncovered, for

30 minutes. 
Serve with bread or cooked rice and salad.

NOTE: If cooking beans from scratch, soak 1 cup dried beans overnight in

plenty of cold water at room temperature. In hot weather put in the fridge. The

next day, drain off water and refill with plenty of fresh cold water. Bring to the

boil, skimming off any foam that rises to the surface, and simmer gently for

approx. 1 hour, or until tender but not falling apart. Top up with extra water if

needed. Add a few pinches of sea salt and cook for a further 5 minutes before

draining well.