When warmer weather is on the horizon, I love introducing lighter dishes into the rotation, like this Tomato and White Bean Casserole. Think of it as a panzanella salad but in casserole form (panzanella is an Italian tomato and bread salad). It’s refreshing and won’t weigh you down, but it’s still satisfying and not quite a full summer recipe.
Bursting with fresh flavor from cherry tomatoes, shallots, basil, parsley, and capers, it features layers of flavor and textural complexity. It makes a fabulous side dish, but thanks to the addition of white beans, it’s substantial enough to be served for lunch or dinner.
Why you’ll love this recipe
Light but satisfying. If you’re craving recipes that are a little lighter as we head into spring, this is a great option. It’s light and fresh, but more substantial and satisfying than a panzanella salad (its inspiration).
If you’re looking for another recipe that brings the freshness of spring in a cozy package, you gotta check out this Savory Asparagus Galette with Ricotta. Or, for a salad that’s light and fresh but satisfying, try this Pearl Couscous and Lentil Salad. Or if you’re just trying to figure out that can of white beans, check out this round-up of delicious bean recipes.
Layers of fresh flavor. We start with a layer of sweet cherry tomatoes, mild and subtly sweet shallots, and earthy thyme, which get baked together with white beans and toasty bread. Then they’re covered with a nutty cashew parm and an herby caper gremolata, which brings the brininess of capers, the pungent sharpness of raw garlic, and the herbaceous zip from fresh basil and parsley. So much goodness!
Textural contrast. A dish with varying textures is always a win in my book. Here, the top pieces of bread get golden and crunchy, whereas the pieces submerged in the casserole get softened and melt into the background. The cherry tomatoes remain juicy, some of them retain their shape while others wrinkle up into caramelized goodness. And the cashew parm covers everything with a subtle crunch.
For a summer casserole that has all kinds of crispy textural goodness, be sure to bookmark this Crispy Zucchini and Corn Casserole.
How to make this Tomato and White Bean Casserole
Cut the bread into 3/4-inch (2 cm) cubes. Toss with extra virgin olive oil and lightly sprinkle with salt. Bake at 350°F (176°C) for 10 minutes.
Slice the cherry tomatoes or grape tomatoes. Plating them on a pretty tray is not necessary but makes for a nice photo.
Add the sliced tomatoes and shallots to a very large bowl, separating the shallots into rings as much as possible.
Add the chopped garlic, thyme leaves, and white beans to the tomato-shallot mixture. Drizzle in extra virgin olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Add the toasted bread cubes to the tomato-shallot mixture and toss to combine.
Transfer the mixture to a 3-quart/3-liter baking dish.
Bake at 350°F (176°C) for 35 to 40 minutes until the tops are golden brown.
Meanwhile, make the Cashew Parm. Add the cashews, nutritional yeast, salt, and extra virgin olive oil to a food processor.
Pulse the Cashew Parm mixture repeatedly until fine and crumbly (pulse, not blend).
Meanwhile, make the Caper Gremolata with the basil, parsley, garlic, capers, and flaky salt.
Finely chop the parsley and basil. Grate the garlic on top of the herbs, and chop the capers into the mixture. Sprinkle with flaky salt.
Top the casserole with the Cashew Parmesan. Place the pan under the broiler for a few minutes until nicely browned.
Allow to cool slightly, then top with the Caper Gremolata.
Substitutes for this Recipe
Cherry Tomatoes? Grape tomatoes work great. Regular tomatoes do not (too watery).
Fresh Thyme? You can substitute the 1 tablespoon thyme leaves with 1 teaspoon dried thyme, or simply omit it.
Cannellini Beans? You can easily substitute a smaller white bean, such as navy beans or Great Northern Beans.
Expert Tips
If you’re cooking for 1 or 2 or don’t want leftovers, you can easily halve this recipe and bake it in an 8×8-inch (20×20 cm) pan.
You won’t need to use all of the Cashew Parm when you first sprinkle it on the top of the casserole (I used 1/2 to 2/3 of it). Not to worry though because it has a great shelf life (store in an airtight container at room temperature or in the fridge for several weeks). You can sprinkle it on salads, soups, roasted veggies, beans or lentils, or anywhere you want a nutty crunch. You can also sprinkle more of it on top of the casserole when reheating leftovers (see below).
Don’t skip the caper gremolata! The capers add an occasional salty, briny bite that is lovely with the tomatoes and shallots. The fresh herbs bring a lot of bright zippiness and complexity to this dish. And the raw garlic peppers this dish with the occasional sharp bite.
Frequently Asked Questions
I recommend visiting your local bakery or the bakery department of your grocery store and picking a soft but sturdy loaf of freshly baked bread. I’ve used a soft loaf of Italian bread and French bread (not a baguette).
I’d advise against something already crunchy and chewy like sourdough. I initially tried it with sourdough and some of the pieces were too crunchy to chew.
Substitute the cashew parm with toasted breadcrumbs. It’s more bread, sure, but it provides that irresistible crunchy topping we’re looking for.
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge. When reheating, transfer to a shallow, oven-safe baking dish and top with leftover cashew parm. Bake at 350°F (176°C) for 12-15 minutes, until heated through.
I hope you give this Tomato and White Bean Casserole a try! If you do, please leave a rating and review below with your feedback and tag me on Instagram with your remakes :)
Tomato and White Bean Casserole
Ingredients
- 10 ounces (285g) of soft but sturdy rustic bread*
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Kosher salt
- 2 pounds (900g) cherry tomatoes or grape tomatoes, sliced in half
- 5 medium shallots (6-7 ounces or 170-200g), peeled and sliced into rings
- 4 garlic cloves, chopped
- 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves**
- 2 (15-ounce/425g) cans of cannellini beans***, drained and rinsed
- Freshly cracked black pepper
Cashew Parm****
- ½ cup (70g) raw cashews
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
Caper Gremolata
- ¾ cup (9g) Italian flat-leaf parsley leaves
- ½ cup (7-8g) fresh basil leaves
- 2 large garlic cloves, left whole and peeled
- 2 tablespoons capers, drained
- Flaky or coarse sea salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F°/176°C. Chop the bread into ¾-inch (2 cm) cubes and transfer to a rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle 1 ½ tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil and lightly sprinkle with salt, and toss to coat. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes, until lightly golden but not too hard.
- Meanwhile, in a very large bowl (the largest bowl you have), combine the tomatoes, and shallots. Separate the shallots into individual rings as much as possible. Add the garlic, thyme leaves, and beans. Drizzle the mixture with 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil and season with 1 ½ teaspoons of kosher salt and lots of freshly cracked black pepper. Toss well to combine.
- Add the baked bread cubes to the mix and gently toss to ensure the bread cubes are coated and well combined. Transfer the tomato mixture to a 3-quart/3-liter baking dish (I used a 13×9" pan).NOTE: if your bowl isn’t big enough to hold the bread cubes, transfer the tomato-shallot mixture to the baking dish, then mix in the bread.
- Bake the casserole in the preheated oven at 350°F/176°C for 35 to 40 minutes, until the top bread pieces are golden and crunchy.
- Meanwhile, make the Cashew Parmesan. Add the cashews, nutritional yeast, 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, and 1/2 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil to a food processor. Pulse repeatedly in 1 second bursts until the mixture has a fine, crumbly texture, somewhat similar to grated parmesan (do not continuously blend, or you’ll end up with cashew butter).
- Meanwhile, make the Caper Gremolata. Finely chop the parsley and basil together. Using a microplane, grate the garlic directly over the parsley and basil (or mince the garlic with a knife). Add the capers on top, and chop everything together until well combined. Sprinkle with a bit of flaky or coarse sea salt.
- Remove the casserole pan from the oven. Using oven mitts, arrange an oven rack for the broiler (but don't position it too close to the flame) and set your broiler to a low heat.
- Sprinkle a generous layer of Cashew Parmesan on top of the baked dish and put it under the broiler for a couple minutes until the topping is nicely browned, but keep an eye on it to prevent burning. NOTE: For reference, my maximum broiler temperature is 550°F/288°C, so I set it to 500F/260°C and broiled for about 60 to 90 seconds, then reduced the heat to 475°F/245°C and broiled for another 30 to 60 seconds.
- Allow the casserole to cool for 10 minutes, then evenly sprinkle the top with the Caper Gremolata. Finish the casserole with a few drizzles of extra virgin olive oil and a light sprinkle of flaky or coarse sea salt.
Notes
Just made a half recipe of this because it’s an “oops, we ate all the veggies” and “I’m in the mood for something light, but filling” kind of day. I freelanced and used 3 slices of our favorite (San Luis) whole grain sourdough bread, and garbanzo beans because I spaced out and forgot I’d used up all the white beans. it was freakin’ delicious! I was smart enough to make the full recipes of the Cashew Nooch faux parm, amd the gremolata (improved by addition of lemon juice and EVOO. This is going in the rotation, and next time, I might add chopped artichoke hearts since I always have those on hand. Oh, I used freshly-harvested herbs from my garden and I really appreciated the fresh thyme, especially. Thanks for another great recipe.
Thanks for sharing your experience, Sara! Artichoke sounds like a lovely addition and adding fresh herbs is always the move!
I made this to use up tomatoes. Now I will buy tomatoes for this purpose. Amazing dish–hearty, yet light. Grated raw garlic didn’t sound like me, but I don’t know myself as well as I thought. I made half a batch, which is fortunate as I am in danger of eating the entire casserole today.
Thanks for the lovely feedback, Cheryl!
Mmmmm… yummy!
So glad you loved it, Michaela!
Made this for dinner yesterday and we loved it. The combination of crunchy and juicy textures was amazing and it was really flavourful. Will definitely be making this one again, thanks for the great recipe!
Awesome, Julia. Thanks for your comment and for taking the time to review!
Love this dish! Do you think it would taste just as good if I made it ahead and put it in the freezer?
Hi Susan, It’s definitely best freshly made, but you could probably make it through step 4 and then freeze it. And then finish under the broiler with cashew parm topping, and then the gremolata when ready to serve. Hope that helped!
Delicious! We’ll definitely be making this again!
Suze, So glad to hear you loved this recipe!
This is class! 🇮🇪🍀
I made this with butter beans and regular spanish white onions as it was all I had in the house at the time. It’s a deadly recipe so tasty and simple!
I am only 3 months into pbd and it’s these type of meals that make me realise I should have started sooner.
Keep her lit 👍
This dish is delicious!! It was made by my son’s fiancée after they decided to go vegan. I wasn’t sure if I would like it but it was so good so I went back for seconds!!!!
I made this dish today and was amazed at how flavorful it was. I added some lemon peel and half the juice of one lemon to the gremolata. I also used a garlic infused olive oil to drizzle on top. Loved by everyone. Thank you for being so creative and inspiring with your recipes.
Thanks for the lovely review, Diane!
Excellent! I had just come from the local produce stand so I used half tomatoes and half grilled vegetables (onions, peppers, baby eggplant, mushrooms, green beans, yellow squash)…….grilled vegetables were added after tomatoes/bread baked 15 minutes. Husband said to definitely make this again.
Thanks for sharing, Hellen!
OB.SESSED.
I’m telling y’all: this sucker is GOOD. Like: “eat it all in one sitting” good. Can’t wait to make this one again.
So happy to hear that, Avey. Thank you for your review!
Loved it! My husband is gluten intolerant, so skipped the bread and added zucchini and eggplant cubed – yummy!
Thanks for the lovely feedback, Cyndie!
Wow! This was so simple and delicious! We are a family of four living in an rv and amazingly we can fit a 9×13 inch baking tray in our oven so we made this dish and it was excellent!
So happy to hear you were able to make this dish! Thanks for sharing Jess!
This was a huge hit with my partner and I! We left out the bread because we were trying to cut down on carbs but I’m positive it would have been even more delicious than it was. I highly recommend this to anyone considering trying this.
Thank you for sharing the recipe! I loved it so much that I’m currently scrolling through your recipes to find my next meal
Thanks for sharing, Ryan. We are thrilled you enjoyed the recipe and are looking forward to trying more of them!
Super delicious!
Even my son, who is a picky eater, went for seconds..
The baking-dish was cleaned out thoroughly!
This is ridiculously good! We do a date night swap with our friends and made this while we were watching their two kids, in addition to our two as well. 4 kids under the age of 4, my husband and I. Not only did all four kids devour it, but my husband went back for more FOUR TIMES. The caper gremolata is the real *chefs kiss* on top! Also to note, I see that Nisha doesn’t recommend sourdough. I definitely read that after I made it with my homemade sourdough, and truthfully, I don’t know if I would use another bread type. It was so good! But I also tend to purposefully keep my sourdough on the softer/less crusty side of the spectrum. All this to say, MAKE THIS TONIGHT! You can thank me later!
Thanks for sharing, SJ!
I made this and substituted aquafaba from the beans for oil, and it worked fine. I was concerned it would be dry, but it wasn’t. It probably lost some decadence that way, but Nisha’s dishes are so flavorful that they work without oil if that’s your preference. I’ve made many of her InstantPot recipes without oil and we enjoy them tremendously. Even my husband is becoming a happy vegan. This was delicious!
I made this and it was absolutely exquisite! I prepped everything ahead of time and then left my husband baking instructions so it was ready when I got home. I used violife vegan Parm and I made a ramp pesto instead of the gremolata and it was fantastic.
Loved this recipe! I’m not a tomato fan usually but the flavor actually appealed to me in this dish. :) We added a savory tempeh sausage recipe to it for some extra protein, and it was scrumdidliumptios!
I made this for dinner last night. My husband is from Italy, which means that I am usually very hesitant for him to try any Americanized Italian dish (I learned the hard way when his mother came to visit and we accidentally went to an Italian-American restaurant lol). Despite this, I was very excited about this recipe since I’ve made like 3 other of Nisha’s recipes and they came out amazing. I’ll just say that the look on his face when he took the first bite of this dish was PRICELESS!
This recipe was perfect. So flavorful and I love the textures! I just added some chopped cucumbers for a little more crunch. I am definitely making this again <3