Fagioli all'Olio

Tuscans are called mangiafagioli, bean eaters, and they accept this as a compliment. The white cannellini bean is to Tuscany what the chickpea is to Rome: the foundation upon which countless dishes are built. But before you add beans to soup or stew them with tomatoes, you must understand them in their purest form.

Fagioli all'olio asks only three things of you: cook the beans properly, use the finest olive oil you can afford, and season with confidence. That is all. No garlic to distract, no herbs beyond what perfumes the cooking water, no acidity to complicate. The bean and the oil, in conversation.

This simplicity terrifies some cooks. They want to add things. They believe more ingredients mean more flavor. The opposite is true. What you keep out is as significant as what you put in. A perfectly cooked cannellini bean, dressed with Tuscan olive oil that tastes of grass and pepper and artichoke, needs nothing else. To add more is to admit your ingredients were not good enough to stand alone.