What’s for dinner Mom? There are some days that this question makes me happy because I’m ready with a great answer. Today it’s tuscan white bean skillet with tomatoes, mushrooms, artichokes and sunny side up eggs.  However, there are even more days that this question makes me want to hide.  Sometimes it’s almost the end of the day and I haven’t given dinner a single thought. Truth be told I’m not great at meal planning and I don’t shop ahead for the week. I like to pick up fresh ingredients and use them within a day or two and I like to make what ever inspires me while I’m shopping. That means there are days when I am at the mercy of my pantry, Luckily I keep that stocked. Watch for my upcoming Pantry 101 post.  My boys have moved off campus and into their first apartments.  I’m working on a comprehensive list for starting their own pantry’s. Make sure you subscribe to my blog posts by entering your email address into the subscribe box and then confirming in your email.  That wat you won’t miss out on future posts.

This vegetarian skillet meal is made from pantry staples for a quick weeknight dinner! The recipe calls for canned fire roasted tomatoes however, making your own fire roasted tomatoes is easy to do and well worth the extra effort. It’s a great way to use up some of your end of the summer tomato harvest.

I love this recipe because most of the items in it are usually in my pantry.  Adding fresh mushrooms, onions, tomatoes allows me to create a dinner in a short amount of time that is hearty and delicious. This is a dish you can serve vegetarian and even vegan. If you would like to add protein I highly recommend adding a perfectly cooked sunny side up egg. Cook the eggs separately and gently add to the top before serving. It is also great with sautéed pieces of chicken breast or grilled shrimp. As with most of my recipes you can adapt it for own personal taste and family preferences. 

How do you make sunny side up eggs?  I’ve finally perfected the process. I used to put a lid on my pan as many how to sites will instruct you to do. This doesn’t work well in my opinion.  It causes a build up of steam that will cook the white but it also creates a milky white film over the yolk.  I want my sunny side up eggs to look sunny! Start with a non stick pan.  Add a bit of both olive oil and butter.  When the butter has melted carefully add your egg.  Let it cook low and slow.  When the white starts to firm up on the bottom tip the pan a bit and spoon some of the hot oil-butter combo onto the white and a bit over the yolk. Repete this until the whites are completely opaque, then it’s ready.  Use a slotted spoon or fish spatula to carefully remove from the pan and place it onto the skillet ingredients just before serving.

TUSCAN WHITE BEAN SKILLET WITH TOMATOES, MUSHROOMS, AND ARTICHOKES

INGREDIENTS

• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided
• 8 ounces baby Portobello mushrooms, sliced
• 1 1/2 cups diced yellow onion (about 1 large onion)
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2/3 cup drained and chopped oil-packed sun dried tomatoes
• 2 (14.5-ounce) cans fire-roasted diced tomatoes or make your own see method. 
• 2 (14.5-ounce) cans drained and rinsed Cannelini beans
• 1 (14.5-ounce) can quartered artichoke hearts, drained
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon sugar or agave
• Parsley for garnish if desired and crusty bread for dipping.

METHOD

If you are planning to make your own fire roasted tomatoes simply spread your tomatoes out halved and quartered on a cooking sheet with sides. Drizzle a little olive oil and sea salt on them.  Roast in a 425° oven until tender. In the last few minutes shut off the oven turn on the broiler and let the broiler roast the edges of the tomatoes giving them bits of black edges. This caramelization will sweeten the tomatoes. As for how many tomatoes you should use, it depends on the size of your tomatoes you can use any form of tomato from a small cherry tomato to a large beef steak tomato. Cut them into equivalent sizes and cover the sheet pan completely in a single layer. You could always do two sheet pans and save the extra in the refrigerator to use throughout the week. Ultimately you’re looking for 28 ounces of roasted tomatoes. If you would rather use canned and save the effort continue on with the method below. 

• Heat one tablespoon of the oil in a 10-inch cast iron skillet set over medium-high heat until shimmering. Working in batches, add the mushrooms to the pan in a single layer. Brown for 1 to 2 minutes per side; transfer to a bowl and repeat with remaining mushrooms.*
• Add the remaining tablespoon of oil to the pan; add the onions and saute until lightly browned, about 3 minutes. Add the garlic and sun-dried tomatoes and cook until fragrant and softened, another 2 minutes.
• Add the diced tomatoes to the pan, along with the beans, artichoke hearts, salt, pepper, oregano, thyme, and sugar. Cover the pan and turn the heat down to medium. Let cook for about 10 minutes, until hot. Return the mushrooms to the pan and cook for another minute or two to warm them up.
• Garnish with chopped parsley if desired or add perfectly cooked sunny side up eggs to the top of this dish. Be sure to serve with plenty of crusty bread.

*I’ve spoke about this topic in past recipes. I grew up putting all the mushrooms in a skillet and stirring them around in oil or butter. The result was basically steamed slightly sautéed mushrooms. When crowding the pan with all of the mushrooms at once so much moisture is released that the moisture basically boils or steams the mushrooms instead of allowing them to achieve the beautiful caramelized edges that you can get when you cook them in smaller batches. By doing this you will get a beautiful brown caramelization on each mushroom. This elevates the flavor as well as the look of the finish dish. Again, It’s an extra step but I think worth the effort.