It’s so interesting how different the grocery prices are here in Nashville compared to my previous home in New Orleans. Most notably, canned beans are about half the price and grape tomatoes are so much more affordable! So today I whipped up this Garlic Toast with Balsamic Tomatoes and White Beans for lunch using those wonderful little tomatoes and some canned Cannellini beans.
What Kind of Bread Should I Use?
A good sturdy artisan bread is the best vehicle for these saucy balsamic tomatoes and white beans. If you don’t want to do bread, you could always pile these jammy tomatoes and beans on top of a little pasta (any shape). Or, if you plan ahead, you can make some no-knead bread yourself for super cheap!
How to Serve Garlic Toast with Balsamic Tomatoes and White Beans
I priced these per toast and today I actually just ate the toast by itself (I had a large breakfast), but for a more full meal I suggest serving this with a nice green salad or even some roasted vegetables. The Garlic Toast with Balsamic Tomatoes and White Beans is more filling than it appears.
Garlic Toast with Balsamic Tomatoes and White Beans
Servings 4Ingredients
- 4 slices hearty bread ($1.00)
- 1 large clove garlic ($0.08)
- 2 Tbsp olive oil ($0.26)
- 1 pint grape tomatoes ($1.69)
- 2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar ($0.22)
- 1/8 tsp dried rosemary ($0.02)
- 1 Tbsp butter ($0.13)
- pinch salt ($0.01)
- 15 oz. can Cannellini beans ($0.69)
- 2 tsp Parmesan ($0.06)
Instructions
- Place the sliced bread on a baking sheet. Slice the clove of garlic in half and rub the open face of the garlic over the surface of the sliced bread (leave the garlic peel on to make it easier to handle). Pour the olive oil in a small bowl, then brush it over the surface of the garlic rubbed bread. Set the bread aside and reserve the clove of garlic and leftover oil for the tomatoes.
- Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Once hot, pour the remaining olive oil from the bowl into the skillet and swirl it to coat the surface. Add the grape tomatoes and allow them to cook, stirring only occasionally, until they blister, pop, and begin to lose their shape. The juices will brown and caramelize on the skillet.
- While the tomatoes are cooking, mince the garlic clove. Once the tomatoes have split open and lost their shape, add the minced garlic and continue to sauté for 1-2 minutes, or until the garlic is a little softened and has lost its raw edge.
- Turn the heat down to medium-low, add the balsamic vinegar and rosemary*, and stir and cook until the vinegar has dissolved any brown bits from the bottom of the skillet and it has thickened just slightly. Turn the heat down even further (to low), add the butter and a pinch of salt, and stir until the butter has melted into the sauce.
- Rinse and drain the Cannellini beans, then add them to the skillet. Stir them into the tomatoes and sauce, and allow them to heat through.
- While the beans are heating, turn the oven on to broil and place the baking sheet with the bread into the oven. Watch the bread closely as it broils and remove it from the oven when the top is golden brown (depending on how close the oven's rack is to the broiler, this may be only a few minutes).
- To serve, top each slice of bread with a hefty scoop of the tomatoes and beans, then add a pinch of Parmesan.
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Notes
Nutrition
How to Make Garlic Toast with Tomatoes and White Beans – Step by Step Photos
Place four slices of hearty bread on a baking sheet. Slice a large clove of garlic in half (length-wise so there is a large cut surface) and rub the cut surface of the garlic over the surface of the bread. Pour 2 Tbsp olive oil into a small dish and then brush the oil over the surface of the bread. Set the prepared bread aside and reserve the garlic and leftover oil to be used with the tomatoes.
Heat a large skillet over medium, then once hot add the remaining olive oil (there should be at least 1 Tbsp). Swirl the skillet to allow the oil to coat the surface. Add one pint grape tomatoes and allow them to cook, stirring only occasionally, until they have blistered, burst open, and begun to lose their shape like in the photo above. While the tomatoes are cooking, mince the clove of garlic that was used to rub the bread.
Add the minced garlic to the skillet and continue to sauté for about 1-2 minutes, or just until the garlic softens and loses its raw edge. Turn the heat down to medium-low, and add 2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar and a large pinch (about 1/8 tsp) of dried rosemary to the skillet (I like to crush the rosemary in my fingers so there are no large pieces).
Stir and cook the balsamic vinegar so that it dissolves all the browned bits from the bottom of the skillet and begins to thicken slightly. Once thickened (this should happen within a couple of minutes), turn the heat down further to low and add 1 Tbsp butter and a pinch of salt. Stir the butter in until melted.
Rinse and drain a can of Cannellini beans. Add them to the skillet with the balsamic tomatoes.
Stir until everything is combined, then let it heat through over low. While the beans are heating, turn the oven on to broil and transfer the baking sheet with the bread into the oven. Watch the bread closely and remove it from the oven once the surface of the bread is golden brown (depending on how close the oven’s rack is to the broiler, this could take only a few minutes).
To serve, spoon the balsamic tomatoes and white beans over each slice of bread and top with a pinch of Parmesan.
I love this recipe! I am not big on the flavor of fresh tomatoes (I know), so when I get a pint of small tomatoes in my produce delivery, this is what I do with them. Just the few minutes of cooking in the skillet and the balsamic + rosemary make for a great meal.
I tend to use a nice rosemary/olive oil loaf that my grocery carries, so I often skip the garlic/oil part of toasting the bread. Also makes it easier for leftovers!
My broiler is kinda unreliable. Would it be just as good tasting the bread in a pan?
Sure, that would work as well! :)
I’ve started making this with chickpeas instead of white beans. I generally make this when I have a half-pint of tomatoes that are past their prime and starting to wrinkle up. This recipe is perfect for cooking them down and getting that concentrated tomato flavor from less-than-perfect produce. I used about a cup of leftover chickpeas that I had cooked from dried and mashed half of them in the pan. This made for a recipe with much less sodium than using canned beans and it really didn’t need salt – even when I don’t use the Parmesan. I find the rosemary when paired with a balsamic glaze are flavorful enough to keep this a low-salt option for a healthy breakfast.
Yummy and versatile. I made this for a late weekend breakfast since I love savory brekkie. I used naan for my bread, some rosemary-heavy Italian seasoning and a spiced balsamic.
This recipe will go into regular rotation for me for breakfast, lunch, or a light dinner. Super easy to change up the flavor a little with a spiced or curried balsamic, different types of bread, or to add a little arugula salad drizzled with good olive oil and balsamic glaze.
This was great. I’ll add some extra garlic and balsamic next time but it was very good as is. I also
Found it microwaves great so I’ve been keeping the bean and tomato mixture in the fridge and pop some in the microwave as we want it. Really good and easy.
My kids loved it!!!Thanks a lottt!!!
I just finished making this! It was great. I added a tablespoon of chopped capers to mix and didn’t use parmesan because I didn’t have any. It was still delicious! Instead of oiling and rubbing the bread, I mixed softened butter, the zest of one lemon, and minced garlic cloves, brushed that on bias sliced baguette and broiled. The lemon definitely adds some depth. Thanks for this recipe. It’s versatile; I can imagine putting this on top of fish or a green salad. Well done.
I made this last night for dinner. I added mushrooms in with the tomatoes – so good. The whole thing came out fabulous, the flavors were awesome. Rosemary plus balsamic = heaven. I served with a little rice and roasted veggies. Smiles all around and plenty for lunches today. Thanks so much!
Just made this for lunch and it was delicious! The changes I made were – Great Northern beans cooked from dry earlier in the week rather than canned beans, fresh rosemary (had on hand), and topped with Pecorino Romano since I had that instead of Parmesan. Really tasty and satisfying. I would love to try this with homemade bread at some point.
This looks so good! I know what we are having for dinner tonight!! I love all of the vegan or easily made vegan recipes that I find on your site. Please keep them coming!
I second that!
This would be SO GOOD with gnocchi. I’ll have to try it soon!
This is so easy to make and very flavorful. I didn’t have white beans in my pantry, but I had a can of garbanzos. It tasted great with the garbanzos. I think white beans are a better flavor match, but garbanzos definitely worked in a pinch.
Have you found the area where Kroger puts the day old marked down bakery items? I frequently find nice loaves of bread $1.50 or less. The location varies by store, but is worth finding.
I haven’t! Thanks for that tip!!
My Kroger has a cart with reduced produce, each bag is 99 cents. Sometimes it’s crap but I’ve found some good stuff there. I got one bag of apples – 2 honeycrisp, 2 tango, and 1 ambrosia for 99 cents! I also found a bag of bell peppers that were in good shape. You never know!
Looks very delicious can’t wait to try it.
5 Stars!
It looks delicious, but I wish I can get grape tomatoes at an affordable price in Las Vegas. :-)
Do you have a Costco? Mine has large packs of grape tomatoes at a good price.