This recipe came about when I needed a quick and easy alternative to mashed potato. I was making meatballs, again, and remembered that Meatball and Wine Bar puts their balls on a white bean mash. Light bulb moment!
Cannellini beans are a brilliant legume that are high in fibre, folate and thiamin. Since they are neutral in colour, they serve as a great background to dramatic presentation. Here we use black lava salt and bright purple cabbage to add visual texture. Black Lava Salt is Mediterranean sea salt flakes combined with purified volcanic charcoal and is said to relieve heartburn, intestinal gas, is an anti-toxin and boosts your overall digestive system. That aside, it just looks so damn cool.
Cannellini Mash
Gluten free, vegan, fructose free
Serves 1-2
5 minutes prep plus 1/2 hr cooking time
Keeps in fridge up to a week
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon ghee (or vegan alternative)
1/2 brown onion, finely diced
425 gram tin cannellini beans
1 cup of water
1 bay leaf
Himalayan salt
To garnish
Black lava salt
Red cabbage, finely shredded
Olive oil
Directions:
- Melt ghee in a saucepan on a medium heat and add onions. Turn heat to low and cook for 5-8 minutes until onions are soft and translucent. Make sure to stir regularly so they don’t brown.
- Add the beans, water, bay leaf and a pinch of Himalayan salt (not too much if you are garnishing with lava salt), and cook until everything is soft – around 20 minutes. If it starts to look dry, add extra water. Stir frequently to avoid sticking to the pot.
- Take out the bay leaf, then using a blender, stick blender, food processor or potato masher, process until smooth and creamy.
- Sprinkle over black lava salt and place cabbage in the centre. If you can’t find black lava salt, you can get a similar contrast by sprinkling over a different spice of your choosing such as paprika, finely crushed pepper etc.
- Splash over some olive oil.
