White Bean Puree with Prosciutto

• 1/2 pound cannellini beans, soaked overnight (see below)
• 3 onions, 1 peeled and cut in half, 2 cut into 1/4-inch dice
• 1 celery rib, trimmed
• 1 carrot
• 2 cloves garlic, smashed
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 thyme bundle, tied with butchers twine
• Kosher salt
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Pinch of crushed red pepper
• 1/2 cup prosciutto scraps, finely diced
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh rosemary

1. Put the beans, onion halves, celery, carrot, garlic, bay leaves, and thyme in a large pot and cover with waterit should come at least 2 inches above the level of the beans.
2. Bring to a boil (BTB) and reduce to a simmer (RTS); cook until the beans are tender when you taste them, an hour or more.
3. To be sure theyre done, do the 5-Bean Test (below).
4. When the beans are cooked through, turn off the heat, season the water generously with salt, and let sit for 20 minutes.
5. Remove the onion halves, celery, carrot, garlic, bay leaves, and thyme and strain the beans, reserving about a cup of liquid to loosen the puree later if needed.
6. Coat a large saute pan generously with olive oil, add the diced onion and red pepper, and bring to medium heat; season with salt and cook until the onions are soft and aromatic, 8 to 10 minutes.
7. Add the prosciutto and rosemary and saute for 3 to 4 more minutes, or until the meat just begins to color.
8. Add the beans and some of the reserved bean cooking liquid if the mixture seems dry.
9. Saute for 2 or 3 minutes or until the beans are just warm.
10. Transfer everything to a food processor and puree until smooth, adding a bit of olive oil or reserved cooking liquid to loosen the puree if necessary.
11. Taste, adding more salt if needed.
12. Serve on bread or wherever bean dip is needed.
13. Bean cooking SHOULD go like this: Toss the beans in a bowl of water and let them sit overnight.
14. The next morning, put the beans in a pot with an onion cut in half, a whole rib of celery, a whole carrot, a couple of garlic cloves, some bay leaves, and a thyme bundle (and yes, you do want to leave all these veggies wholeit makes them much easier to remove later on).
15. Cover everything with about 2 inches of water and BTB, RTSbring to a boil, reduce to a simmer.
16. Now, if you didnt remember to soak your beans yesterday, you can do the quick-cook method (which really isnt that quick).
17. Toss the beans and all the veggies together in a pot, bring to a boil (BTB), turn off the heat, and let it cool back down.
18. This does the same thing as soaking your beans overnight.
19. By the way, this works for all beans except for chickpeasI dont know why, theyre stubborn.
20. The only way to know for sure if your beans are done is to taste them, because different beans take different amounts of time to cook.
21. To tell if beans are done, perform the 5-Bean Test: Taste at least five beansif any of them are hard, then theyre not all done!
22. When the beans are tender, turn off the heat, season generously with salt, remove the veg, and strain the beans from the bean cooking liquid.
23. Voila!
24. Perfectly cooked and perfectly seasoned beans .
25. .
26. .
27. every time.
28. This recipe is best when you cook your own beans, so plan ahead.
29. Dont use your big-money prosciutto here.
30. Ask your butcher to sell you the ends, which are usually the leftover bits they cant sell.

beans, onions, celery, carrot, garlic, bay leaves, thyme, kosher salt, extra virgin olive oil, red pepper, scraps, fresh rosemary

Taken from www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/white-bean-puree-with-prosciutto-378136 (may not work)