Tuscan White Bean Dip
2 strips of bacon 1 sprig of rosemary 1 garlic clove ½ tsp. dried red chili flake 1 lemon 1 can of cannellini beans Olive oil
1. I once was told that the liquid in a can of beans is what gives you gas. Now, this is probably not true, but really, who wants to be the one to find out? Not me, brother. So play it safe and empty the beans into a colander, then rinse under cold water.
2. Cut the bacon into strips about the width of an Air Max 90 shoelace. Drop them in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat and cook for about 8 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until they’re crispy and there’s a nice puddle of pork fat in the bottom of the pan.
3. Smash the garlic clove with the side of a knife a few times until that garlic is well crushed. Toss the garlic in with the bacon and give it a stir in the bacon grease. Chop your rosemary as finely as you can and dump it in as well. Oh, and the chili flakes, too. (As always, if you want it hotter, use more, chief.) Let all that cook for maybe a minute—not too long or the garlic will burn.
4. Dump in the beans and stir them around in all that other great stuff. Let the beans warm through for a minute or two, then cut the heat. Almost done!
5. Now you need to procure yourself some sort of a smashing tool, and I don’t mean Scott Disick. Basically, you want to crush about half of the beans while leaving some beans whole, creating a textured, chunky paste. I have a potato masher that does the trick, but a fork would likely work, or even the bottom of the empty bean can if you’re some sort of hobo bereft of any other culinary equipment.
6. Once you’ve created a nice coarse mixture, add a squeeze of lemon juice to brighten. A glug of olive oil will round it out nicely.
7. Transfer this into a nice bowl—presentation matters!—and serve it up with crackers or toasts. You should probably serve it either warm or at room temperature. Maybe it’s just me, but the thought of cold bean dip doesn’t really get the tastebuds humming.