I recently acquired a bunch of new spices and pantry ingredients, as a result of reading Yotam Ottolenghi’s book Flavor. One of these ingredients was black garlic, which is an East Asian sort of preserved, fermented garlic clove that is stored in the pantry. I had decided to make sort Rancho Gordo Alubia Blanca beans, which are a small white bean, and weirdly didn’t have any regular garlic on hand, so instead I mushed up two small heads of black garlic and threw them in to cook with the beans. The resulting beans and broth were so deeply rich and flavorful that I could barely stop eating it. The black garlic has natural sweetness, tons of umami, a little earthiness, and a little funk, and none of the harshness or piquancy of raw garlic. I couldn’t believe the depth and complexity of flavor coming from literally three ingredients—beans, black garlic, and a little salt. I topped it with some truffle hot sauce and made dinner and lunch out of it for several days. This is a dish I will reprise with regularity, and it’s something that can be put together purely with things in the pantry.
White Beans with Black Garlic
8 oz. Rancho Gordo Alubia Blanca beans (or other small white beans, such as navy)
2 small heads of black garlic
Kosher salt
Rinse the beans and put in a Dutch oven or similar heavy-bottomed pot. Cover beans with 2 inches of water. Peel black garlic and lightly smush the heads with the side of a chef’s knife or a fork. Add to pot. Bring to a boil, reduce to a slow simmer, using the pot lid to regulate temperature by partially covering. Cook until beans are tender (begin checking at about one hour). Salt to taste. Ladle out beans with their broth into a bowl and top as desired with truffle hot sauce, sriracha, parsley, mint chutney, pico de gallo…whatever you have on hand that you think would be delicious with it.