Tasked to write a recipe for a dear friend (Shirley Bovshow), I wanted to make sure I was accurate in referencing her heritage. We spoke about the foods she grew up eating, and I incorporated those into a new take on classic baked beans.
I often call these my pizza beans because A) it's accurate, and B) it's a great way to lie to myself so I don't order another late-night large for snacking. This is an Italian-American-inspired take on baked beans, trading Navy beans for cannellini, and swapping molasses and bacon for oregano, sausage, and parmesan.
If you know anything about my early days in NYC, you know that I lived off of canned baked beans simmered with cut up hot-dogs and topped with a handful of crushed pretzels. Fast-forward to my adult life, and I figured it was time to make my favorite food from scratch.