White Bean Mash

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Nigella's White Bean Mash (from NIGELLA EXPRESS) is made with canned, drained white beans, garlic, rosemary and lemon. It is a quick and delicious side dish that goes well with grilled or roasted meats and fish. It is possible to cook your own beans for the mash, but make sure that you cook them until they are soft.

For white beans, such as canellini or haricot beans, a 400g/14-ounce can yields around 240g drained beans. As a rough rule of thumb dried beans triple in weight so you would need to use 80g dried beans per can. For this recipe 3 cans of beans are used so you will need to use 240g (about 1 1/3 cups) dried beans. If you use a pressure cooker then you should follow the instructions from the manufacturer. Otherwise soak the beans overnight then drain and put in a saucepan with plenty of fresh water but no salt. Bring to the boil and boil rapidly for 10 minutes, then reduce the heat and simmer for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, until the beans are soft. The cooking time will vary according to the age and type of beans.