Reading · 40 Ingredients Forever

Maybe you know the white bean bake, AKA pizza beans.

Or the black bean bake (enchilada beans).

Or the green chile bean bake (queso beans).

Or the French onion beans or harissa beans from I Dream of Dinner.

Behind all these recipes is a basic structure: saucy beans topped with melty, slouched, bubbling cheese. They all require only a skillet, flavorful sauce, cooked beans, cheese, and high heat. (Is it a casserole? Perhaps.) But that simple framework can create something rich and cozy without much planning or cleanup.

This flexibility is why the bean bake can take so many forms. Any cooked bean works. Any flavorful sauce that’s not too thick works. Any melting cheese works.

1. Heat the broiler to high. Start with an oven-safe skillet and sizzle something flavorful in fat. Olive oil, butter, or a mix; onion, garlic, scallions, chiles, ground spices, or tomato paste — anything that smells good when it hits heat. Cook it until softened and it smells good.

2. Add something saucy, 1 to 2 cups. That might be crushed or cherry tomatoes, salsa, cream, stock, pesto, jarred marinara, or even water loosened with tomato paste or miso. Simmer until it’s thicker than broth but thinner than jarred pasta sauce.

3. Stir in any kind of cooked beans, about 3 cups. Stir them until warmed through. Feel free to add another element too, like a vegetable and simmer it until cooked through. If the mixture looks tight, add a splash of water or stock; it should look slightly too saucy before it goes under the broiler and loose enough to pool for bread, pasta, tortilla chips, or grains.

4. Top with cheese. Tear or grate something that melts — mozzarella, Monterey jack, Cheddar, Gruyère — and add a saltier accent like feta or Parmesan if you like. Use 4 to 6 ounces. If you find that the cheese is sinking into the sauce, pause: The sauce is too thin. Simmer a bit more before adding the rest of the cheese.

5. Finish under the broiler until the sauce is bubbling and the cheese is gooey and browned in spots. If you like, top the skillet with something fresh: a squeeze of lemon, herbs, a little arugula salad.

Scallions + gochujang + kimchi + water + navy beans + mozzarella
The last of the tomato soup + white beans + cheddar
The last of the chili + more beans + Mexican cheese blend
Butter + thyme + lots of onions, caramelized + chicken stock + white beans + Gruyere
Poblano peppers + jarred salsa + pinto beans + pepper jack
Preserved lemon + cream + baby spinach + white beans + Parmesan
Pesto + beans + frozen broccoli + mozzarella + goat cheese
Sage + onion + canned pumpkin + stock + beans + ricotta + Parm
Cubed sweet potato + chipotles in adobo + water + pinto beans + jack cheese
Today’s recipe: Shallot + tomato paste + cherry tomatoes + honey + butter beans + feta + herbs

Serves 4

1 shallot
A soft-stem herb (parsley, dill, or cilantro)
Extra-virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons tomato paste
2 pints cherry or other small tomatoes
1 tablespoon honey, plus more for drizzling
Crushed red pepper
Salt
2 (15-ounce) cans white beans
4 to 6 ounces feta
½ lemon
Crusty bread, rice, or small pasta, for serving

1. Set a rack in the upper third of the oven, then set the broiler to high. Coarsely chop 1 shallot and ¼ cup soft-stem herbs.

2. In a large ovenproof skillet, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil, 3 tablespoons tomato paste, and the shallot over medium-high. Stir until a shade darker, 3 to 5 minutes. Add 1 cup water, 2 pints tomatoes, half the chopped herbs, 1 tablespoon honey, and ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper. Season with a pinch of salt and cook, stirring and smashing the tomatoes occasionally, until about half the tomatoes have burst, 8 to 10 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, drain and rinse 2 cans of white beans. Add the beans to the tomatoes and simmer until warmed, 2 to 4 minutes. Taste for salt and crushed red pepper. If the mixture is dry, add ¼ cup more water; you want it slightly too saucy since more liquid will evaporate in the oven.

4. Thinly slice 4 to 6 ounces feta and scatter on top of the bean mixture. Drizzle with oil, then broil until the feta is golden in spots and the juices are bubbling, 4 to 6 minutes.

5. Top with a squeeze of ½ lemon, the remaining herbs, more crushed red pepper, and honey. Serve immediately, with crusty bread, rice, or pasta for soaking up the sauce.