Spaghetti with Brussels Sprouts and Cannellini Beans

This spaghetti with brussels sprouts and cannellini beans is an homage to an Italian American classic, and an easy stick-to-your-ribs pasta perfect for a weeknight.

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Beans are one of my all-time favorite ingredients to cook with. I know they’re not everyone’s cup of tea, but as someone who doesn’t eat all that much meat, I love to add beans to all sorts of dishes to give them a boost of protein. But I also make a ton of dishes where beans are the absolute star. These creamy harissa beans, these smoky white beans and of course this kale and cannellini bean soup. That soup is a play on a staple Italian American dish: escarole and bean soup. And this spaghetti with brussels sprouts and cannellini beans is also an homage to that traditional dish, using all the same flavors to achieve a pasta that’s delicious, perfectly balanced in flavors, and so easy to make.

AN HOMAGE TO ESCAROLE AND BEANS

As I mentioned in my kale and cannellini bean soup recipe, I remember my uncle using the threat of escarole and beans for dinner against his kids when they were misbehaving. “If you don’t listen, we’re having schadole and beans for dinner!” And while I never had the same aversion to the dish as my cousins did, I never would have put it on a list of my favorite things to eat. Now, in my adulthood, I’ve come to realize just how delicious and comforting escarole and beans is, so I wanted to make a pasta dish that would emulate those flavors while putting a non-traditional spin on the classic recipe.

Enter my spaghetti with brussels sprouts and cannellini beans. In this dish, the brussels sprouts play the same role that the escarole does, providing a deeply green flavor and tons of nutrients. The sauce that you’ll make for this spaghetti – using sweet vermouth and the liquid from the beans – becomes glossy and creamy, much like the broth in escarole and bean soup. And the soup is traditionally finished with a squeeze of lemon, so I played that flavor up by adding lemon juice and zest for an acidic zing. Top your pasta with shaved or grated parmesan to channel the parmesan cheese rind flavor that I use in my soup, or the classic grated parmesan used to top escarole and bean soup.

A WEEKNIGHT MEAL

This spaghetti with brussels sprouts and cannellini beans is one of those hearty, stick-to-your-ribs type meals, but the best part is that is comes together in only a few minutes. After a long day at work, I love a dish that’s going to fill me up, but take less than twenty minutes to make. Making this pasta is a simple as boiling the spaghetti (which notoriously takes less time than other pasta shapes), sautéing the shaved brussels sprouts with some garlic, deglazing with sweet vermouth, lemon juice and the beans, and combining everything.

But the result is a dish that’s not only delicious but nuanced in flavor. Green from the brussels sprouts, sweet from the vermouth, acidic from the lemon, creamy from the beans, slightly spicy from some red pepper flakes, and savory from the parmesan. So anytime you’re craving a meal with all these flavors that couldn’t be easier to make, this spaghetti should be your go-to.