White Bean Hash | How Sweet It Is

White Bean Breakfast Hash.

January 17, 2011

I have so much to tell you about this breakfast that I don’t even know where to start.

How about not calling it breakfast? Because I ate it for lunch. And I also think it makes an appropriate dinner.

While perusing the menu at Square Cafe this past weekend, I was incredibly drawn to the white bean hash. I couldn’t bring myself to order it; the lure of buttery, toasted ciabatta, thick, crispy bacon and melted gruyere pulled me in. So I went with the breakfast sandwich. But the hash continued to haunt me throughout my meal and even the rest of the day. I couldn’t stop talking about it.
I had to find some way to combine said menu ingredients and get this in my life as soon as possible.

This was my first time using leeks! I was a leek virgin.

Now I’m a leek convert.

I mean… wouldn’t you be if you had caramelized them in bacon grease?

Since I never even laid eyes on the dish, all I had going for me was my superior memory – the memory that gets Mr. How Sweet in trouble approximately six times a month. I remember everything.
I knew the hash was full of leeks, pancetta and white beans. Sure sounded like a winning combination to me. But that’s all I knew.

Words can’t even describe. To my cast iron skillet: marry me.

After tossing the beans into the skillet, I used a few twists and turns with a wooden spatula to mash some beans but left most of them whole. I couldn’t have asked for a better texture.

And just when I thought it couldn’t get any better, I threw some buttery eggs up on top.
Creamy beans, sweet, caramelized onions, crunchy, salty bacon and perfect eggs. I only have one question for you…

Why are you still reading this? You need to get in your kitchen and make it… stat.

White Bean Hash

serves 2-3

4 slices of bacon or 1/2 cup chopped pancetta

2 leeks, trimmed, sliced and cleaned

1 15-ounce can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

2-3 eggs (or however many you want)

Heat a cast iron skillet on medium heat. Add the bacon or pancetta and cook until browned. Remove the bacon, leaving the grease in the pan and drain on a paper towel. Add the sliced, cleaned leeks (make sure they are dry) to the bacon grease and saute until caramelized, about 6-8 minutes. At this point you can add more butter/olive oil if needed – I added a tiny bit of bacon grease I had stored in the fridge.

Add beans and bacon back into the skillet. Stir for about a minute. At this point you can either fry some eggs in a separate skillet, or push the hash to the sides and fry the eggs in the middle. Make sure the beans, leeks and bacon are thoroughly mixed.

Serve the hash with the eggs on top.