Beans for White Bean Mash

Asked by janepriday. Answered on 10th February 2015

Full question

I don't see anything named 'white beans' in my shop so for the White Bean Mash do I use cannellini beans or butter beans? Thanks for your help.

Our answer

Nigella's White Bean Mash (from Nigella Express and on the Nigella website) is a quick side dish made from canned beans. It is a good accompaniment to Nigella's Flash-Fried Steak but is also wonderful with other roasted and grilled meats and fish. Probably the most common canned white bean in the UK is the canellini bean (sometimes called white kidney beans in the US) and this would be a popular choice for most people.

However you could use other beans and canned haricot beans would be a good alternative. In the US these are usually known as navy beans. The US have a similar white bean called the great northern bean and this could also be used. In the UK the other possibility is canned butter beans which are widely available. Butter beans can also be found canned in the US but should not be confused with canned lima beans, whch are a pale green.