Quick White Bean and Celery Ragout

With some tweaks this is delicious! My notes: Make sure the celery really is thinly sliced... Lemon pepper adds a nice note while cooking Added a clove or two of garlic Served with greek yogurt, parsley and basil, pesto, lemon wedge over couscous.

It was pretty bland. Added some lemon juice at the end to make it more flavorful.

Definitely add the lemon, and stir in the pesto at the end. The combo is magic! I'd also cook so the veg are a little more done than crisp tender, more like 15 mins, but that's a personal preference. And put in the beans earlier, makes it like a veg cassoulet

I made this for my 9-month pregnant wife who is vegetarian. She loved it so much and felt like it was a hearty vegetarian entree that did not feel like a side dish. I made it as described, though I did not have pesto and so I just threw some fresh basil into it. We will be making this again and serving it for friends.

Rather than bland, I'd say this recipe allows the simple flavor of celery to shine. I would suggest that the celery be de-stringed before slicing. Adding the celery leaves to whatever pesto you make reinforces that flavor.

Lemon and sherry vinegar made a big difference.

Cut the recipe in half for two and it was still generous and filling. Used chicken broth - that's what I had available. We found this dish tasty without the pesto, sour cream. Just the celery leaves as a garnish. Really good with grilled (in a skillet) country bread rubbed with a garlic clove.

Quick, easy weeknight dinner. I made it with arugula pesto which was great. Next time will try kale pesto.

This was really tasty - fresh flavors, healthy-feeling but still velvety and comforting. Based on other notes I added a squeeze of lemon, but honestly with the fresh pesto I think it still would have been delicious even without the acid. For my pesto I used some leftover pecans instead of pine nuts, and I added some shredded lacinato kale to the stew. *kissy fingers*

Added carrots along with celery and put Parmesan rind in the broth. Cooked for much longer than 15 minutes. Excellent results!

I can’t get over how delicious this recipe is despite being soooo simple. I’ve made it twice in as many weeks. I used chicken broth instead of veg broth and the second time one large leek instead of the scallions. This will be a meatless Monday go to

Absolutely delicious and ridiculously simple. I started with fresh white beans simmering away for 10 minutes in sage, water and a little EVOO then added the celery, scallions and zucchini and cooked for another 15 mins. The squeeze of lemon brought it home. Made this the night before heading to SF to dine at Chez Panisse Cafe. Thank you Alice Waters!

Made this for my family last night and it was a huge hit. I listened to the notes above and added in the juice of 1 and a half lemons, and generously seasoned with sea salt, lemon pepper and black pepper. I topped with schug (Israeli spicy sauce) instead of pesto. I’d like to make this again but with a clearer/cleaner stew. It was a bit cloudy. Going to try and make my own stock vs store bought.

Yum! Partner requested this be "in the rotation." Read comments about bland-ness so I did a full flavor assault: * Bay leaf & parm rind in stock/oil * Tossed in cannellini bean liquid * Generous salt & pepper hands * Doubled celery & scallions * Mashed white beans in stock * No bread today, so made a couscous toasted with jalapeño, garlic, lemon zest, lemon juice, and toasted pine nuts. * Garnished with radish leaf pesto, dollop of greek yogurt, celery leaves * Final spritz of lemon Tasty!

Both my partner and I were floored by the amazing taste of this super simple prep and ingredients. Re: “bland,” our success was supported by using super flavorful bean broth saved from last week’s pot of beans I made. The aromatics came through. I did sizzle a clove of garlic in the oil for a minute before I dumped the other ingredients in the pot to soften. Added the (canned) beans at the beginning to thicken things up and finished with a squeeze of lemon. Payoff to effort is high!