I make this dish quite often, sometimes as a main meal, usually as an accompaniment.
In large frying pan, cook off some diced pancetta with a splash of oil.
When the bacon has been rendered and is browned add some diced red onion, diced peppers, and diced mushrooms. Cook on a low heat until the peppers and onions have softened. The mushrooms are there for flavour.
To the softened onions and peppers, add a spoonful of plain flour. Stir in.
I then add a Knorr chicken stock pot, some garlic puree, and dried herbs.
To this mix I add some water. I then let this cook for about thirty minutes. The key is to thicken the sauce.
I really like the Cirio Borlotti Beans that come in the Tetra Recart™ pack. These are ready to use and once added to the pan, they just need heating through.
If I am doing a main course, I may add a second pack of pulses, sometimes lentils, or cannellini beans.
Other variations are to remove the bacon and use a vegetable stock to make this a vegetarian (or vegan) dish. Sometimes instead of chicken stock, I use a deep rich beef stock, I also use some tomato puree when using beef stock.
You could add some protein, roasted or pan fried duck, slow roasted pork belly or grilled chicken, all work well with the beans. Other times I have added some sausages, I quite like the Polish hunters’ sausage you can get at most supermarkets.
