Quick White Bean and Celery Ragout Recipe (2024)

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 garlicServed 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

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.

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.

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*

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

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

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.

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!

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!

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 lemonTasty!

This was excellent. I’m so excited to have a quick, easy, and tasty veggie dish to add to the rotation. I followed the recipe exactly except no pesto. I will say the amount of olive oil was excessive. Once I added crème fraiche, the meal went from healthy to decadent. Next time I will reduce the amount of oil, add less crème fraiche, and add a bit of lemon or white wine vinegar, as the dish is missing acidity. But this is all minor, all in all, a wonderful one pan lunch!

This was delicious! I had cooked some Rancho Gordo Alubia Blancas a few days ago and this was the perfect vehicle along with the wonderful bean broth. Pesto from the freezer and some yogurt was all it needed.

Organic celery is inexpensive and makes an important difference. Organic celery has FLAVOR.

Delicious! No zucchini so subbed in chard and beet greens, otherwise followed exactly.

I liked how easy it was to prepare - I had all the ingredients on hand - and how quickly it came together. But I won't be making it again. First bite was, meh - delicate to the point of bland. I kind of feel like I could put creme fraiche and pesto on almost anything and it would taste good.

Yummy. Made almost as written, but I added 2 tsp white wine vinegar and a little basil as I had no pesto. And since I'm cooking vegan and low fat I used 2 tablespoons olive oil, but I could have probably cut it down to 1 tablespoon. Instead of dairy sour cream, I made the vegan version.

This recipe has become a favorite! Very quick, easy, customizable, and so so yummy. I love adding some chicken sausage to make it a more complete meal (plus it adds great flavor). Don't skip the pesto and sour cream!!

I've made this numerous times, and it really punches above its weight -- it's so much more delicious, warming, homey than you expect it to be based on its ingredients. Very easy, and obviously healthy, too.-It's obviously better with the pesto and crème fraîche (I just used Mexican crema), but you can do it without one or both (even subbing some fresh herbs is adequate), and it's still good!

This recipe shines with its simplicity. I’ve made this again and again (and again) when I just can’t think of what else to make, and it hits the spot every time. It’s incredibly satisfying and delicious as is, and especially so with a swirl of pesto and squeeze of lemon. Enjoy!

I had it on medium and added all the ingredients. By the time the Mexican calabazas cooked the broth dried up and I kept adding broth by the end it was just a soggy mess. Help me out here. The flavors are good but visually it looks nothing like the photo and I tried to cut everything exactly the same

Modifications: Sautéed 1 onion, two scallions along with 8 celery stalks and two crooked neck yellow squash that I deseeded. Added 3 cups rancho gordo papa de rola beans that I had cooked over two hours on the stovetop with some celery and onion. Added two cups of broth from an instant pot smoked chicken carcass broth that was leftover. Added garlic, a big splash of white wine and a Parm rind and cooked for at least 40 min. Made arugula/basil pesto and served with yogurt. Absolutely delicious.

Simple and delicious ! Served it with a fresh homemade rosemary and Kalamata olive sourdough boule

Any concern I had about the dish being bland disappeared when I added the pesto. I thought it was delicious!

I never post comments on recipes, but I need to preach the gospel of this one. THIS IS SO DELICIOUS,FAST*, and (reasonably) HEALTHY. If you're complaining that it's bland, you probably used store-bought stock and pesto, which are both terrible. * if you've already made the pesto.

Made this as a really quick and delicious work from home lunch. I had really tender and fresh celery with dark leafy greens from my CSA that I wanted to eat up, so I used another reader's suggestion and made a celery leaf pesto. Omitted the sour cream topping and used a squirt of lemon instead. Served with sourdough toast and olive oil. Endlessly riff-able.