Italian Rice and Beans
A creamy and saucy Italian rice and beans dish perfect to serve with classic red sauce dishes. We love this recipe for our family because the kids love savory, tender dishes like this, and it reheats really well.
Servings: 6 Servings
Calories: 329kcal
Cost: $10
Equipment
- 1 medium pot
- 1 large saucepan
Ingredients
- 1 cup dried cranberry (borlotti) beans or 1 14 oz can
- 3 cups stock, (pork or chicken)
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 Italian hot pepper
- 3 cups marinara sauce
- 2 tablespoon salt
- 1 cup carnaroli or arborio rice
- ½ cup pecorino romano, grated
- 1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped
Instructions
- Place stock and dried beans in a pot together over high heat. Bring the stock to a boil and lower to a simmer for 45 minutes to an hour. Once the beans are tender, drain them and reserve ½ cup of the cooking stock.
- In a large saucepan, add 1 tablespoon of EVOO over medium-low heat. Add the hot pepper and simmer for 2 minutes. Pour in the marinara sauce and raise the heat to medium to bring the sauce to a low simmer. Add in the beans and simmer for 15 minutes.
- While the beans simmer, bring a medium pot of water to a boil. Add 2 tablespoon of salt. Add the rice to the pot and boil for 13 minutes until the rice is al dente, no longer hard at the core but still firm. Drain and transfer to the marinara sauce and beans.
- Combine and simmer for 2 more minutes while stirring. Stir for 2 minutes until the rice and sauce come together. If the mixture seems too thick, stir in ¼ to ½ cup of the reserved bean stock until it reaches a creamy consistency.
- Stir in the Pecorino Romano and fresh chopped parsley. The final dish should be creamy and spoonable, not dry like a pilaf. Serve immediately!
Video
Notes
- This recipe uses beans soaked overnight for 24 hours. You may need to adjust the cooking time for your beans if you don't soak them or soak them for less time.
- If you use canned beans, save ½ cup of extra starchy water from the boiled rice to add to the marinara sauce in place of the extra pork stock.
- Salt the water with 2 tablespoon of salt. It will help add so much flavor to the rice.
- Make sure to simmer the rice with the marinara sauce for 2 minutes or so, so that the marinara soaks into the rice.
- I love to serve this dish with other red sauce dishes like Italian Meatloaf!
Nutrition
Calories: 329kcal | Carbohydrates: 55g | Protein: 16g | Fat: 6g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 9mg | Sodium: 3247mg | Potassium: 1080mg | Fiber: 11g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 693IU | Vitamin C: 20mg | Calcium: 161mg | Iron: 5mg
