Some recipes come easier than others; this recipe has gone through multiple transformations and iterations before finally becoming what I would deem “blog worthy”. As a type one diabetic, there are some foods that I deem not worth eating as they are too challenging to manage. One of those foods is Agilo e Olio. For those not familiar, it is a super simple pasta dish originating in Naples. It consists of extra virgin olive oil, garlic and spaghetti. A dish made up of primarily simple carbohydrates is not the best for diabetics, so I set out with an idea to make it more diabetes friendly. 

First, it started out with simply replacing the pasta with delicious creamy white beans, but as I iterated more, I strayed from my initial intention of a simple dish. Because I can’t help myself, that meant adding more vegetables; in this case onion, broccoli and mushrooms. But, the flavors of olive oil and garlic will still shine through. I also ended up changing the vessel by which it is served, to fresh sourdough. Overall this makes a delicious, hearty winter meal full of umami. I hope it can warm your kitchen and soul soon! 

Active time 25 minutes

Cook time 30 minutes

Ingredients:

• ¼ cup olive oil
• 3 medium yellow onions, diced
• 1 head garlic, cloves thinly sliced
• 2 tsp thyme leaves, removed from stems
• 1 large head broccoli, broken into small florets
• 225g (8 oz) crimini mushrooms, thinly sliced
• 3 cups beans (½ lbs dry, cooked or 2 15 oz cans)
• ⅓ cup bean liquid, if home made (sub vegetable broth if using canned beans)
• ¼ cup nutritional yeast
• ½ tsp red pepper flakes
• Juice of ½ lemon
• 75g shredded parmesan
• Fresh sourdough bread
• Chopped parsley, to top

Directions:

1. Heat a large, heavy bottomed pan on medium heat. Once hot, add in the olive oil, onion, garlic, thyme and a couple generous pinches of salt. Sauté, stirring occasionally for 7-10 minutes until the onion is translucent and beginning to brown. 
2. Add in the broccoli, mushrooms and another pinch of salt. Continue to sauté for another 5-8 minutes stirring occasionally. 
3. Add in the beans, bean liquid, nutritional yeast, red pepper flakes and lemon juice. Stir to combine and bring to a simmer. Turn the heat down to medium low. There should be a bit of liquid at the bottom. Cook down for 5-10 minutes until most of the liquid has been cooked off.
4. Finally, add in the shredded parmesan and stir to combine. Take off the heat. Taste for salt, additional salt will be required, but dependent on how salted your beans were. 
5. Serve while warm on fresh, toasted sourdough bread and top with chopped parsley. Enjoy!