Creamy garlic confit white bean pasta with rosemary for the nights the smell has to do the work first
Easier-to-swallow option below ↓Some nights I am not hungry when I start cooking and I need the cooking itself to make me want to eat. I put a whole head of garlic in olive oil119 kcal on the lowest heat and I walk away. By the time the cloves are soft and golden, about twenty-five minutes, the kitchen smells like warm garlic and oil, and that smell is what gets my appetite going before the food is ready. The beans and the rosemary and the pasta200 kcal are the payoff.
I peel the garlic and put the cloves in a small pot with a generous quarter cup of olive oil on the lowest heat the burner will hold. I do not stir them. They soften from the inside out over twenty-five minutes, going from sharp and firm to golden and tender, and the oil they cook in takes on the garlic flavor. By minute fifteen I am in the kitchen whether I planned to be or not, because the smell has made the apartment feel like a place where dinner is happening. I drain a can of white beans and chop a sprig of rosemary. I lift the garlic out of the oil and mash it with a fork on the cutting board, and I put it back in the oil with the beans and the rosemary. The beans break down partly when I stir them, and the mashed garlic dissolves into the oil.
The garlic confit makes me hungry while it cooks, and by the time the pasta is done the appetite I did not have at the start is the appetite that finishes the bowl.
Why it works
The smell of garlic in warm oil is the appetite primer for me. It starts working before the food is ready, which means I am hungry by the time I sit down instead of trying to eat from a standing start. The olive oil from the confit carries about 240 calories per serving, the white beans add 175, and the pasta and the butter102 kcal and the parmesan110 kcal finish it at about 580 per bowl. I save a half cup of pasta water before I drain the pot, and the starch in the water pulls the oil and the beans and the garlic together into a sauce that clings to the pasta without any cream. The whole bowl is soft and warm, and for the lowest appetite days the beans and the garlic and the oil can be blended smooth with extra pasta water and sipped from a mug.
Creamy garlic confit white bean pasta with rosemary for the nights the smell has to do the work first
Ingredients
- 1 whole head of garlic, cloves separated and peeled
- 1/4 cup plus 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 can (15 oz) white beans (cannellini or navy), drained and rinsed
- 1 sprig fresh rosemary, leaves chopped fine
- 8 oz dry pasta (linguine, spaghetti, or short pasta)
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1/4 cup grated parmesan
- salt and black pepper to taste
- 1/2 cup pasta water, reserved from the pot
Method
- Preheat a small pot with a quarter cup of olive oil over the lowest heat the burner will hold. Add the peeled garlic cloves in a single layer. They should poach gently, not fry. If the oil is bubbling hard, lower the heat.
- Poach the garlic for 25 minutes until the cloves are soft, golden, and mashable with a fork. Do not stir them. The oil should smell like garlic and nothing else.
- While the garlic poaches, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook the pasta according to the package directions. Before draining, scoop out half a cup of the pasta water and set it aside.
- Lift the garlic cloves out of the oil with a slotted spoon and mash them on a cutting board with a fork until they form a rough paste.
- Return the mashed garlic to the pot with the oil. Add the drained white beans and the chopped rosemary. Stir over low heat for 2 to 3 minutes, pressing the beans with the back of the fork so about half of them break down and form a rough sauce with the oil.
- Add the hot drained pasta to the garlic pot with a splash of the reserved pasta water. Toss for 1 minute over low heat until the oil, the beans, and the pasta water come together into a sauce that coats the pasta.
- Remove from the heat and stir in the butter and the parmesan. Add salt and pepper to taste. If the sauce is too thick, loosen it with another splash of pasta water.
- Serve warm in shallow bowls with extra parmesan and a drizzle of the remaining garlic oil if there is any left in the pot.
Nutrition figures are home-kitchen estimates, not lab-verified Nutrition Facts. This is food and comfort guidance, not medical advice.
Make it your own
- The garlic cloves should be soft enough to mash with a fork at the end. If they still have any bite, give them five more minutes on low heat.
- Save the garlic oil. If there is any left after the pasta is dressed, keep it in the fridge and use it on toast or eggs72 kcal the next day.
- Leftovers keep in the fridge for two days. Reheat gently with a splash of water to loosen the sauce.
- For extra calories, add another tablespoon of butter or a handful of extra parmesan at the end.
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