I’ve been meaning to share this tasty cannellini bean cream with you for a while. It’s flavorful and light, vegan and very easy to prepare: if you use canned beans there’s not even any cooking required.
It has very few Weight Watchers points and is a source of protein; I usually enjoy it on whole grain bread or on Wasa, but feel free to get creative — I think it’s delicious for making canapés, for example in my phyllo pastry baskets, to serve at a buffet, and now with Christmas coming it can be a great idea. Let’s make it!
You can find some other savory and sweet legume spreads here:
- Difficulty: Very easy
- Cost: Very inexpensive
- Preparation time: 10 Minutes
- Portions: 2
- Cooking methods: No-cook
- Cuisine: Healthy
- Seasonality: All seasons
Ingredients
- 7 oz canned cannellini beans (or cook at least 2 oz (about 1/4 cup) dried beans)
- 1 oz black olives (weighed without pits (about 2 tbsp), chopped)
- 1 tablespoon capers (in salt)
- 1 teaspoon sweet mustard (heaping)
- to taste salt
- Total points = 6 WW points
- Points per small serving (divided into 3) = 2 WW points
- Points per generous serving (divided into 2) = 2 WW points
Tools
- Chopping board
- Knife
- Bowl
- Spoon
- Hand blender
Steps
As always, weigh all the ingredients and be sure to soak the capers in water so they lose their salt.
Place the rinsed and drained cannellini beans in a food processor or, if using a hand blender, put them in the appropriate beaker. Pulse the beans coarsely.
Add a heaping teaspoon of sweet mustard — or spicy if you prefer — and blend until you obtain a smooth cream.
Drain the capers and chop them together with the olives. If you want to serve it as a centerpiece, set aside a couple of olives and a few capers for garnish.
In a bowl, mix the bean cream with the olives and capers using a spoon; taste and, if necessary, add a little salt, but the capers and mustard should be sufficient.
Our cannellini bean cream is ready to be served! There’s no need to refrigerate it as it is quite firm right after making it.
This yields a good quantity, so for an afternoon snack you’ll want about one third; if it’s your protein source for a meal I suggest eating half.
It’s truly delicious and everyone at home will enjoy it, you’ll see. Maybe a way to get legumes into the diet of someone who wrinkles their nose at a plate of pasta and beans!
I’m waiting for your feedback below in the comments or on social media…
Enjoy!
by Giovanna Buono
Storage
This cannellini cream keeps in the fridge for 5 days and you can also freeze it for 5 months. You can therefore make a larger quantity by increasing the recipe amounts and then freeze it in portions according to your needs.
FAQ (Questions & Answers)
If I want to use dried beans, what should I do?
If you want to cook them yourself, soak at least 2 oz (about 1/4 cup) of dried beans overnight, rinse them and then boil them in unsalted water. At the first boil skim the surface, cover with water and let them simmer gently. If after a couple of hours the beans are still a bit hard, add a pinch of baking soda to soften them quickly and continue for another half hour. Once cooled, take the quantity you need and freeze the rest.
In the photo here the procedure for chickpeas is shown, which is identical.
