I received a subscription to Vegetarian Times magazine as a gift.  Within the first month I have made three excellent dishes from it’s pages.  I have had to make some changes to the recipes to use them (remove gluten and dairy) but so far have been successful in the outcomes.

I am making one of the dishes again this weekend for company on Saturday night:  Cannellini al Gratin (Vegan, Gluten-Free).  This recipe is converted from January/February 2011.

• 1 1/2 lb dried cannellini beans
• 6 sprigs plus 1 1/2 Tbsp Thyme
• 3 sprigs pluss 3 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
• 1/2 medium onion, unpeeled, plus 1 large onion, diced
• 3 whole cloves
• 1 medium fresh fennel bulb, stalks and fronds reserved, bulb quartered and diced.
• 12 cloves garlic (6 cloves peeled and halved, 6 cloves minced)
• 3 Tbsp olive oil, divided
• 2 cups diced carrots
• 1 tsp white vinegar
• 1/4 cup ground walnuts
• 1/2 cup ground cashew nuts
• 3 T Nutritional Yeast
• 1 1/2 cups Glutino gluten-free bread crumbs

Soak the dried beans in cold water over night.  Drain.

Stir together walnuts, cashew nuts, and nutritional yeast together and set aside.

Put beans in a 6 qt dutch oven and add enough water to cover by 2″.  Tie together thyme and parsley sprigs and add to pot.  Pierce onion half with cloves and add to pot with 6 halved garlic cloves.  Partially cover and bring to a boil.  Uncover and reduce heat to a medium low simmer.  Cook 40 minutes or until beans are just tender.  Drain beans reserving cooking liquid,  Discard herb bundles, onion and fennel.  Wipe out dutch oven for next step.

Preheat oven to 400°F.  Heat 2 Tbsp oil in dutch oven over medium-high heat.  Add carrots and diced fennel and season with salt.  Cover and cook 10 minutes or until beginning to brown, stirring frequently.  Add diced onion, and cook, covered, 6-8 minutes or until onion is soft and bottom of pan is browning, stir occasionally.  Add minced garlic and cook 1 minute or until fragrant.  Remove from heat and stir in vinegar using spatula to scrape up brown bits.

Add beans, chopped thyme, parsley, 1/2 cup of the nut mixture and 2 cups of the cooking liquid.  (Liquid should come up to about 1 1/2 inches below the top of the beans, add more if necessary).  Stir well to combine.

Combine breadcrumbs, remaining parsley, and remaining 1/4 cup of nut mixture in a small bowl.   Drizzle 1 Tbsp olive oil into breadcrumbs and toss to moisten mixture.

Spread crumb mixture over bean mixture.  Bake uncovereg 10-45 minutes or until top is browned and juiced have bubbled down below surface, leaving a brown ring around the edge of crust.  Cool 20-25 minutes to let beans finish absorbing juice.  Serve warm.

Let me now how you like it when you try it!