Tomato & White Bean Stew

Kuru Fasulye

This stew of tender white beans and chunks of meat in a rich tomato sauce is found all over Turkey, but I associate it most closely with Istanbul, where it is so popular that some restaurants serve nothing but.

Feel free, as cooks in Turkey do, to tinker with the recipe. My interpretation, a mash-up of all those I’ve eaten over the years, calls for cannellini or borlotti beans, but you can use any white bean (cooking times will vary). My preference is for lamb, but you can use beef, or omit the meat. In the eastern Black Sea city of Rize, this stew is extravagantly buttery. You can replicate that version by eliminating the ground chiles, substituting more tomato paste for the pepper paste, and using butter instead of oil. If you want your stew soupy, increase the water.

Plan to soak the beans overnight. In Turkey, this is served over a mound of Rice and Orzo Pilaf.

Preparation time: 1¼ to 3 hours (depending on the type and age of the dried beans), plus an overnight soak for the beans

Serves 4 to 6 as a main course

• ½ cup olive or vegetable oil
• 2 medium onions, chopped (about 2 cups)
• 4 garlic cloves, chopped
• 2 medium tomatoes, halved crosswise and grated on a box grater, or one 14-ounce can diced tomatoes
• ¼ cup tomato paste
• 1 tablespoon sweet or hot Turkish red pepper paste (optional)
• 1 teaspoon ground dried chiles
• 4 ounces lean boneless lamb or beef, cut into ½-inch pieces
• 2½ cups dried cannellini or borlotti beans, soaked overnight and drained
• 5 to 6 cups hot water, or as needed
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1½ teaspoons sugar
• 1½ teaspoons fine sea salt
• Turkish or regular crushed red pepper flakes, for serving

1. Heat the oil in a 5-quart pot over medium-low heat. Add the onions and garlic and cook until the onions are soft, about 8 minutes; do not let them color.

2. Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, pepper paste, if using, and ground chiles. Reduce the heat to low and cook, stirring to coat the onions, until the tomatoes and chiles are fragrant and the oil begins to separate out, about 5 minutes. Add the lamb and cook until it loses its pink color.

3. Add the beans and enough hot water to cover the beans by about 1½ inches. Stir in the lemon juice, sugar, and salt and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, partially cover the pot, and simmer slowly until the beans are soft but not disintegrating—depending on the size and age of the beans, this could take anywhere from 1 to 2½ hours. Check and stir the stew occasionally to make sure that the beans aren’t sticking and there is sufficient liquid to keep them partially submerged; add more hot water ½ cup at a time if necessary. When the stew is ready, there should be enough slightly thickened sauce to submerge about one third of the beans.

4. Serve the stew hot, passing red pepper flakes at the table.