Every January I attempt to clean up my act. I feel the need to simplify my diet focusing less on cheese and more on, you know, vegetables and stuff. This is never an attempt to lose weight, it’s more an attempt to make chiller meals and generally feel more nutritionally balanced. Well, clearly 2025 didn’t work out that way because my first recipe of the year is decked out in biscuits. I don’t know how to explain this. I’m not sure I want to explain this. Comfort food just feels right at the moment. This year started with a snarl so I responded with this Tomato White Bean Bake with Rosemary Biscuits. Sometimes you just have to be soft when the world feels hard and there’s nothing softer than a fluffy biscuit.
In addition to being easy to love, this Tomato White Bean Bake is also easy to make. It mostly comes together in a single cast iron skillet and is mostly pantry ingredients. So what exactly are we looking at here? This dish features plump white beans smothered in a rich tomato sauce accented with rosemary, parm, and Dijon mustard. The beans are snuggled under a lid of fluffy and buttery rosemary biscuits baked to golden perfection. This simple skillet meal delivers maximum comfort and requires only medium effort. So let’s make it!
The first thing we’re going to do is build the tomato sauce. Start with olive oil in a large cast iron skillet. Once the oil is shimmering, add the shallots and a sprinkle of salt. Sweat the shallots over low heat until translucent and add in the grape tomatoes. Sauté the tomatoes until the skins begin to split. Stir in some garlic and pour in some wine. I had some rosé in my fridge that was getting a little long in the tooth, so that’s what I used. Feel free to use whatever white or rosé wine you have on hand. Dry vermouth is another great option.
Once the wine is in there, leave the tomatoes to simmer and disintegrate alongside a couple of sprigs of rosemary and bay leaves. When the tomatoes have almost completely lost their structural integrity, take the pan off of the heat. Remove the now-spent aromatics and carefully ladle the tomatoes into a food processor or blender. Blend the tomatoes until extremely smooth. Transfer the sauce to a bowl and set it aside.
Now we’re going to create a fortified velouté to give our tomato sauce some extra body. Start by adding butter to the now-empty skillet. Once the butter has melted whisk in some AP flour. Slowly whisk in some veggie stock until a smooth, thick sauce forms. Stir in the tomato sauce, two cans of drained and rinsed white beans, and a dollop of Dijon mustard. Leave the beans to simmer for 15 minutes to get acquainted with the sauce.
While the beans are simmering, build the biscuits. Place flour, baking powder, salt, finely chopped rosemary, and shredded Parmigiano Reggiano in a large bowl. Whisk to combine. Add cold butter cut into cubes to the flour mixture. Rub or cut the butter into the dry ingredients until it resembles a coarse meal. Form a well in the center of the dry ingredients. Pour buttermilk into the center and stir until a thick batter forms.
The beans should be ready by now. Turn off the heat and shred in some parm. Stir to combine. Using an ice cream scoop, scoop up the biscuit dough and dot it all over the surface of the beans. Brush each biscuit dollop with an egg wash and pop the pan into a 375°F oven. Bake for 25- 30 minutes or until the biscuits are set and golden. Let cool for 10 minutes before digging in.
And that’s everything you need to know about this Tomato White Bean Bake. I told you it was simple to make. This dish will comfortably feed a family of four. And if you, like me, are not a family of four, I’m delighted to tell you the leftovers keep exceedingly well in the fridge for up to a week. They also make for an excellent brunch when topped with a sunny-side egg.
Enjoy!
Tomato White Bean Bake with Rosemary Biscuits
Equipment
- 1 Cast iron skillet
- 1 large ice cream scoop
- 1 Food processor or blender
- 1 large bowl
Ingredients
Creamy Tomato White Beans
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 3 shallots sliced into halfmoons
- 907g (2 lbs) grape tomatoes
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tbsp tomato paste heaping
- ½ cup white wine**
- 2 sprigs fresh rosemary
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 tbsp butter
- 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 1 cup vegetable stock
- 2 (540ml, 19 fl oz) cans white beans drained and rinsed
- 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
- ½ cup Parmigiano Reggiano shredded
Rosemary Drop Biscuits
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 3 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp fresh rosemary finely chopped
- ½ cup Parmigiano Reggiano shredded
- ½ cup unsalted butter cold, cut into cubes
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1 large egg
- 1 tbsp water
To Serve
- Additional Parmigiano Reggiano for sprinkling
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F.
- Heat olive oil in a large cast iron skillet. Once the oil is shimmering, add the shallots and reduce the heat to low. Add a pinch of salt and sweat the shallots until translucent.2 tbsp olive oil, 3 shallots
- Pour the tomatoes into the skillet and sauté until the skins begin to split. Stir in the garlic and sauté for 30 seconds more. Stir in the tomato paste. Pour in the wine and add the rosemary and bay leaves. Simmer until the tomatoes fall apart, about 15 minutes.907g (2 lbs) grape tomatoes, 2 cloves garlic, ½ cup white wine**, 2 sprigs fresh rosemary, 2 bay leaves, 1 tbsp tomato paste
- Take the skillet off of the heat and remove the rosemary and bay leaves. Carefully ladle the tomatoes into a food processor or blender. Blitz until very smooth. Pour into a bowl and set it aside.
- Melt butter in the now-empty skillet. Once the butter is frothy, whisk in the flour to form a roux. Slowly whisk in the veggie stock until a smooth, thick sauce forms. Stir in the pureed tomatoes and add the white beans. Simmer for 10-15 minutes.2 tbsp butter, 2 tbsp all-purpose flour, 1 cup vegetable stock, 2 (540ml, 19 fl oz) cans white beans
- When the beans are done simmering, take them off of the heat and stir in the Dijon mustard and Parmigiano Reggiano.1 tbsp Dijon mustard, ½ cup Parmigiano Reggiano
- While the beans are simmering build the biscuits. Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt into a large bowl. Add the rosemary and Parmigiano Reggiano and whisk to combine.2 cups all-purpose flour, 3 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp salt, 1 tbsp fresh rosemary, ½ cup Parmigiano Reggiano
- Add the butter to the bowl and using your fingers or a pastry cutter, work the butter into the dry ingredients until the butter pieces are pea-sized. Form a well in the center of the mixture and pour in the buttermilk. Using a rubber spatula, stir until a thick batter forms.½ cup unsalted butter, 1 cup buttermilk
- Using an ice cream scoop, scoop the batter onto the surface of the beans. Try to evenly space each dollop. In a small bowl, whisk to combine the egg and water. Using a pastry brush, brush each dollop of biscuit dough with the egg wash.1 large egg, 1 tbsp water
- Transfer the skillet to the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes or until the biscuits are set and golden and the beans are bubbling. Let cool for 10 minutes before scooping and serving with a hefty sprinkling of Parmigiano Reggiano.Additional Parmigiano Reggiano
