Charred Tomato & White Bean Skillet

Method

1. Get the pan properly hot

   Set the skillet over a high flame and leave it alone for three full minutes. Add the olive oil; it should shimmer and thin out almost instantly. If it smokes hard, pull it off the heat for twenty seconds — you want assertive, not acrid.

   ⏱ 3 minutes, dry

2. Blister the tomatoes without touching them

   Tip in the tomatoes in a single layer and step away. They need to sit still long enough to take colour — five minutes minimum. When the first skins split and hiss, give the pan one decisive shake, not a stir.

   Why it mattersEvery stir drops the pan temperature and the tomatoes steam instead of char. Char is the entire flavour argument of this dish.

3. Aromatics, off the boil

   Lower the heat to medium. Add the garlic cloves whole and unpeeled, the shallot moons, fennel seed and chilli. Cook two minutes until the fennel smells like liquorice and the shallot has gone translucent at the edges.

   ⏱ 2 minutes, medium

4. Beans in, liquid and all

   Pour in both tins with their cloudy liquid, tuck in the parmesan rind, and press a few tomatoes with the back of a spoon so they weep into the beans. Simmer gently for ten minutes; the sauce should go from watery to glossy and just barely hold a line when you drag a spoon through it.

   ⏱ 10 minutes, gentle

5. Build the crumb lid

   Toss the torn sourdough with the grated parmesan and the extra tablespoon of oil. Scatter it over the beans in loose drifts — leave gaps so the sauce can bubble up through and glue the crumbs down.

   Texture noteTear the bread by hand rather than cutting it. Ragged edges catch more heat and give you the crunchy-to-soft gradient that makes this worth doing.

6. Under the broiler

   Slide the skillet into the upper third of the oven and grill for six to eight minutes, watching from about the five-minute mark. You're after deep amber, not uniform gold — a few near-black corners are the point.

   ⏱ 6–8 minutes, watch it

7. Rest, sharpen, serve

   Let it sit five minutes off the heat — the beans keep cooking and the sauce tightens. Fish out the parmesan rind, splash over the vinegar, and shower with basil and flaky salt. Bring the pan to the table on a board and let people dig at it directly.

   The vinegar is not optionalForty minutes of roasted sweetness needs an acid to push against. Add it at the very end, off the heat, so it stays bright.