This recipe is simple, wholesome and delicious. I absolute love cooking with cannellini beans and they are so versatile, they are great in sauces as when cooked they become all mushy and creamy. I love using fennel as it adds a lovely sweetness and goes so well with the cannellini beans and the onion. To add extra greens I have used a generous handful of baby spinach but finely chopped kale will work as well/

Ingredients:

For the sauce:

1 tin of cannelloni beans, drained and rinsed 

1 small fresh fennel (or half of a large one)

1 white onion, finely chopped 

3-4 garlic cloves, crushed 

2 tbsp of nutritional yeast 

1 tsp of miso paste (optional but adds lots of flavour)

An handful of baby spinach 

A bunch of fresh parsley finely chopped 

Salt & peper to taste 

Pasta of of your choice (I have used brown rice)

To a large frying pan add a glug of olive oil then add in the chopped onion. Cook the onion for 3-4 minutes until it starts to caramelise. Add in the crushed garlic and cook for another minute. Add in the chopped fennel and cook for another 4-45 minutes until it start to soften. Add in the drained cannellini beans, the miso paste, nutritional yeast and about 200ml of water. Turn the heat down to a simmer and put the lid on. Cook for 10-15 minutes. At this point the beans should start to fall apart and you should have a creamy kind of consistency. Add another 100ml of water and cook for another 10 minutes. Finally add in the chopped parsley and season with salt and pepper. Fold in the spinach, cover with the lid and turn the heat off.

Cook the pasta according to the cooking instructions and once cooked mix in with the bean sauce. Serve straight away with a drizzle of olive oil and some black pepper.