Beans, Bacon — & Tomato Bake — For the Tomatoes Almost Ready and the Work That Finally Is

My editor called on a Friday afternoon to tell me she'd read the revised winter chapter and it was exactly what the book needed and that the memoir elements running through the book are the best work I've done. I stood in the backyard with the phone to my ear and the tomatoes behind me and said thank you and then stood there after the call ended for a few minutes just in the June light with this piece of information.

Five books. The fifth is going to be the best one. I know this not because I'm certain of my own work, because I am almost never certain of my own work, but because I can feel the difference in this manuscript from the inside — the difference between writing something because the market wants it and writing something because you have to. The first four books are good. I'm proud of them. This one is more honest than any of them, and honesty, I've come to believe, is a larger category than I understood when I was younger.

Gary celebrated with me in his way, which is to say he bought a bottle of wine he'd been saving for a significant occasion, which I didn't know he had. We drank it on the back porch while the evening light did its long summer thing across the garden and the roses at the fence line were in full bloom. He said: "You should be proud of yourself." I said I was trying to be. He said: "No — be proud. Stop trying and just be." I am working on this.

The channel passed eight hundred thousand subscribers this week, which I noticed without marking it specifically because the book felt like the thing to mark. But eight hundred thousand is also extraordinary and I don't want to let it pass unacknowledged here: eight hundred thousand people who find something in my kitchen worth returning to. I'm going to make them a video about the fifth book. Not a promotion — just a conversation. The way I'd want to be told.

The tomatoes are a week away from ripe. The wine was excellent. I am, tentatively, proud.

The tomatoes aren’t quite ready — a week away, as I said — but I’ve been eyeing them every morning and thinking about what I’ll make first when they finally come in. This Beans, Bacon & Tomato Bake felt exactly right for the moment: honest ingredients, nothing fussy, the kind of dish that asks you to be present while it does its slow, good work in the oven. It’s the sort of recipe that suits a Friday evening on the back porch after a call that changes the shape of your week. Gary would approve.

Beans, Bacon & Tomato Bake

Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cook Time: 45 minutes | Total Time: 1 hour | Servings: 6

Ingredients

• 6 slices thick-cut bacon, chopped
• 1 medium yellow onion, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 cans (15 oz each) white beans (cannellini or Great Northern), drained and rinsed
• 1 can (15 oz) diced tomatoes, with juices
• 2 medium fresh tomatoes, sliced (or 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved)
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
• Salt to taste
• Fresh parsley, chopped, for garnish

Instructions

1. Preheat oven. Heat your oven to 375°F (190°C). Lightly grease a 9x13-inch baking dish or a large cast iron skillet and set aside.
2. Cook the bacon. In a large skillet over medium heat, cook the chopped bacon until crisp and the fat has rendered, about 6–8 minutes. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon and set aside on a paper towel-lined plate, leaving about 2 tablespoons of drippings in the pan.
3. Sauté aromatics. Add the diced onion to the pan with the bacon drippings. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until softened and translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 more minute until fragrant.
4. Build the sauce. Stir in the tomato paste, smoked paprika, thyme, black pepper, and red pepper flakes if using. Cook for 1 minute to bloom the spices. Add the canned diced tomatoes with their juices and the brown sugar, stirring to combine. Let simmer for 3 minutes.
5. Combine and transfer. Add the drained white beans and the cooked bacon to the skillet, stirring gently to coat everything in the sauce. Transfer the mixture to the prepared baking dish.
6. Top with fresh tomatoes. Arrange the sliced or halved fresh tomatoes over the top of the bean mixture. Season lightly with salt and a pinch of paprika.
7. Bake. Bake uncovered for 35–45 minutes, until the tomatoes on top are softened and beginning to caramelize at the edges and the sauce is bubbling around the sides.
8. Rest and serve. Remove from the oven and let rest for 5 minutes. Scatter fresh parsley over the top and serve warm, directly from the dish.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 310 | Protein: 16g | Fat: 11g | Carbs: 36g | Fiber: 9g | Sodium: 620mg