Cor Inspired Cannellini Beans

Creamy cannellini beans folded through a buttery vinegar beurre blanc, finished with crunchy panko breadcrumbs, fresh chives and pops of caviar. This is our take on the dish we couldn’t stop thinking about after eating at Cor in Bristol.

The Dish We Had to Recreate

Every so often, you eat something at a restaurant that follows you home. For us, it was a bowl of cannellini beans at Cor in Bristol. It wasn’t the sort of dish you’d necessarily expect to become the talking point of the meal. The main ingredient is, after all, the humble cannellini bean.

But that was exactly why we loved it. The beans were creamy and comforting, balanced with plenty of acidity and finished with crisp breadcrumbs and smoky caviar. It managed to feel indulgent without losing the simplicity of the ingredient at its centre.

We left Cor knowing we wanted to have a go at recreating it at home. So we did.

Only afterwards, when we sat down with Cor’s chef and owner Mark Chapman, did we discover that our decision to recreate the dish was rather fitting. Mark’s own version was inspired by a bean dish he ate at Septime in Paris.

“Those kind of beans were inspired by the dish and I went home and just recreated it because it was just so good.”

A bowl of beans in Paris inspired a chef in Bristol. A bowl of beans in Bristol inspired us. And now we’re passing that inspiration on to you.

Want the full story? Read about our visit to Cor and our interview with Mark Chapman.

The Dish We Had to Recreate: Inside Cor, Bristol →

What Makes This Dish So Good?

There are a lot of rich ingredients here: butter, cream, beans and caviar.

But the secret isn’t simply making everything as rich as possible. It’s balance. The original recipe describes the dish as being about four things: acid, salt, sweetness and smokiness.

The lemon and vinegar cut through the richness of the butter and cream. The beans bring their own subtle sweetness and starchiness. The smoked caviar adds salinity and smoke, while the toasted panko brings the crunch the dish needs.

Then there’s the texture. You don’t want perfectly intact beans swimming in sauce. Gently crushing some of them while they cook releases their starch, naturally thickening everything around them.

And here’s the important bit: keep the beans slightly creamier than you think they need to be. The panko breadcrumbs will absorb some of that excess sauce once they’re scattered over the top.

Serves: 2
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients

For the cannellini beans

• 1 tin of cannellini beans

For the lemon beurre blanc

• 20g vinegar reduction, made with vinegar, tarragon leaves, shallot, black peppercorns and thyme
• 20g double cream
• 65g cold butter, cubed
• Zest of ½ lemon
• Salt
• White pepper

For the toasted panko

• 50g panko breadcrumbs

To finish the beans

• 50g double cream
• 1 lemon, for juice and plenty of zest
• Salt
• Plenty of white pepper
• 60g smoked caviar or standard caviar.
  Alternative: salmon roe with smoked sea salt or Avruga caviar
• ⅛ bunch fresh chives, cut into roughly 1.5cm lengths

Method

Make the Vinegar Reduction: Prepare your vinegar reduction before starting the beurre blanc and allow it to cool. Combine your vinegar with tarragon leaves, shallot, black peppercorns and thyme and reduce until concentrated. Strain and measure out 20g for the sauce.

Toast the Panko: Sprinkle the panko crumbs onto a roasting tray and toast in the oven until evenly golden and crisp. Don’t underestimate this part of the dish. The crunch is what stops all that creamy richness becoming one dimensional.

Heat the cannellini beans: Empty the tin into a pot and cook for about 4 minutes. Do not overcook them. You want them to have a bit of bite in the dish.

Make the Lemon Beurre Blanc: This is where the indulgence begins. Add 20g of the cooled vinegar reduction and 20g of cream to a small saucepan.

Warm gently over a low heat.

Start adding the cold cubed butter a little at a time, whisking continuously so each addition emulsifies into the sauce.

Temperature control matters here. If the pan becomes too hot, remove it from the heat while whisking, then return it once the temperature has dropped.

Continue until all of the butter has been incorporated and you have a smooth, glossy sauce.

Season with the zest of half a lemon, salt and white pepper.

Set aside until you’re ready to assemble the beans.

Bring Everything Together

Now for the fun part. Place the cooked cannellini beans and beurre blanc into a small saucepan over a low heat. Bring everything up to a gentle boil, then immediately reduce the heat so the beans are just simmering. This is where you taste and season accordingly, adjusting the flavour to your preference.

The original recipe specifically calls for “loads of white pepper”, noting that Cor uses plenty of it.

As the beans simmer, use the back of a small spoon to gently press and crush some of them against the pan. You’re not making mashed beans.

You want a mixture of whole and partially crushed beans. As you break a few open, their starch releases into the sauce and everything gradually becomes thicker and creamier.

Keep stirring gently and watch the consistency. If the mixture becomes too dry, loosen it with a little more lemon juice, vinegar reduction, beurre blanc or cream.

Remember that the finished beans should look slightly creamier than you think they need to be because those breadcrumbs are coming.

Taste. Add more salt, white pepper or acidity if needed.

Taste again.

How to Serve

Spoon the hot, creamy beans into a shallow serving bowl.

Now layer on the contrast. Scatter generously with toasted panko breadcrumbs.

Grate loads of freshly grated lemon zest and spoon over the smoked caviar. Then finish with sprinkles of the fresh chives.

Serve immediately, ideally with good bread somewhere nearby to make sure none of that beurre blanc gets left behind.

Making It at Home

Despite its restaurant origins, one of the reasons we wanted to recreate this dish was how accessible most of the ingredients are. Cannellini beans, butter, cream, lemons, breadcrumbs, herbs and seasoning can all be picked up at a supermarket.

The smoked caviar is the obvious exception, but you have options. The original recipe suggests substituting salmon roe seasoned with smoked sea salt or using Avruga caviar. We sourced ours from Waitrose.

And if you’re making this for a relaxed dinner at home rather than trying to reproduce the full restaurant experience, we’d focus first on getting the beans and beurre blanc right.

Tips

Don’t overcook the beans. We’re not making mash. Allowing the beans to retain some of their bite will add texture to a creamy dish.

Keep the heat gentle. Beurre blanc is an emulsion. Add cold butter gradually and take the pan on and off the heat if necessary rather than letting it get too hot.

Crush, don’t mash. Breaking a few beans releases enough starch to create that beautiful creamy consistency while leaving plenty of whole beans for texture.

Taste for acidity as well as salt. If the finished beans taste rich but slightly flat, don’t automatically reach for more salt. A little extra lemon juice or vinegar reduction may be what they’re missing.

Use more white pepper than feels natural. This is one occasion where a timid twist of the pepper mill isn’t going to cut it.

Keep it loose. The breadcrumbs absorb some of the sauce, so stop cooking while the beans are still a little wetter and creamier than your ideal final consistency.

The Full Circle Moment

We attempted this dish before interviewing Mark. So when we eventually sat down with him and discovered that Cor’s beans existed because he had eaten an incredible bean dish elsewhere and wanted to recreate it, we couldn’t quite believe it.

That’s perhaps our favourite thing about this recipe. It isn’t really about copying a restaurant dish exactly. It’s about inspiration.

Someone cooks something memorable. Someone else eats it and takes an idea away with them. That idea changes a little in another kitchen and eventually becomes something new.

Paris to Bristol. Cor’s kitchen to ours. And now, hopefully, ours to yours.

If you make our Cor inspired cannellini beans, we’d love to see your version.

And if you’re heading to Bristol, we’d recommend trying the dish that started our obsession for yourself.

READ NEXT: The Dish We Had to Recreate: Inside Cor, Bristol →