White Beans with Broccoli Rabe and Lemon

ACTIVE TIME
15 MINUTES
TOTAL TIME
25 MINUTES

If you like bold, assertive flavors—like broccoli rabe and lemon—this rustic white bean side dish is the recipe for you. Try it with roast chicken or pork tenderloin.

Ingredients

4 SERVINGS

tablespoons olive oil

small lemon, very thinly sliced, seeds removed

anchovy fillets packed in oil

garlic cloves, thinly sliced

bunch broccoli rabe, chopped

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

15-oz. cans cannellini (white kidney) beans, rinsed

cup fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves

tablespoons finely grated Parmesan, plus more for serving

Crushed red pepper flakes (optional)

Preparation

Step 1

Heat oil in a large Dutch oven or heavy pot over medium heat. Add lemon, anchovies, and garlic. Cook, stirring occasionally, until lemon is softened and brown in spots and anchovies fall apart, about 5 minutes. Add broccoli rabe; season with salt and pepper and cook, tossing occasionally, until bright green and crisp-tender, about 5 minutes.

Step 2

Add beans and ½ cup water to pot. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until flavors have melded and liquid is reduced by half (you still want it to be saucy), about 5 minutes. Mix in parsley and 2 Tbsp. Parmesan.

Step 3

Transfer to a platter, sprinkle with red pepper flakes, if desired, and top with more Parmesan.

Reviews (15)

The recipe had good flavour but the consistency was a bit too mushy for me, I feel like it was missing a crunch
- KRISTINA D
- HAMILTON, ON
- 1/3/2021
I made this, adding in sumac-roasted cauliflower and capers, then tossing it with tortellini. Outrageously good.
- COREY-JAN
- ROSWELL, GA
- 12/28/2020
Recette fantastique ! Merci
- MAGALI
- FRANCE
- 11/8/2020
Love this recipe! Made it as a main dish with a crusty baguette to sop up the saucy bits, but I will probably make it as a proper side next time. It’s a bit bitter, but no more so than other broccoli rabe recipes I’ve tried, and the lemon ads a nice sour sweetness.
- AMARIE85
- NEW YORK
- 10/9/2020
Delicious! I grew up eating rapini and this was awesome! We can blanch the rapini prior to cooking the recipe, but why would I want to.. I enjoy the flavor as is and it remains nutritious. I always add chicken stock rather than plain water and also fried Italian sausage at the end.. Voila!
- RAMONA67
- MICHIGAN
- 8/31/2020
I make this all of the time, usually doubling it and using anchovy paste and plenty of evoo. Seriously good, with a wonderful mix of flavors. My canned beans have been store brand, name brand and never have been mushy. You can serve it on ciabatta rounds at a party, big hit.
- DAVID ZAKUR
- NEW HAVEN, CT
- 8/20/2020
I love bon appetit recipes but this one is a miss. Rapini stays bitter without blanching first, time for cooking turns this into glorified mush. I pulled back and was still shocked by texture. Lacks depth. No thank you.
- BCRAMBERG
- SEATTLE
- 8/9/2020
SO SO good! But over cooked the beans, any tips on getting beans to hold shape and not be mushy ?
- ANONYMOUS
- SAN FRANCISCO
- 7/19/2020
This was delicious...not bitter. Loved it so much!
- ANONYMOUS
- HAWAII
- 7/3/2020
Very flavorful! Was a little bitter with the lemon peel. Will probably just add lemon juice at the end next time!
- ANONYMOUS
- STARKVILLE, MISSISSIPPI
- 3/17/2020
So good! Love the lemons - great pop of brightness. Will definitely be making this regularly. I happened to have some barley on hand and I served the broccoli rabe on top.
- CHASECONN
- NEW YORK CITY
- 3/6/2020
I agree the lemons and broccoli rabe together were overly bitter. All of the lemon peels in the food after annoyed me quite a lot, weird the recipe doesn't call to take them out as they are NOT edible. I simmered the beans for 10+ minutes and still could not get the can bean taste out. May as well just eat the beans right out of the can...
- ANONYMOUS
- PHILADELPHIA
- 1/16/2020
We found the lemon + greens to overall be really bitter and there definitely should have been something sweet to balance this... it also ended up being a bit mushy and just not as appealing. Maybe we should have waited to add the greens and shortened the cook time... if that were the only issue, we would try again, but the bitterness makes this not a winner for us...
- ANONYMOUS
- MINNESOTA
- 11/8/2019
I used other white beans and it turned to mush so maybe my fault.
- ANONYMOUS
- SAN FRANCISCO
- 11/7/2019
10" of cooking broccoli rabe made it over-cooked. Maybe wait to put the broccoli rabe in at last 6-7" to maintain bright green, crisp-tender consistency. Otherwise, we enjoyed the ease of prep and it tasted great.