Are you familiar with Corona beans? They’re a large white bean way bigger than cannellini, an old fashioned heirloom bean from Europe, Italy has a fondness for them. They’re big to begin with in the dry state but when you cook them they become huge, the picture doesn’t really show how big they get but I measured them to be about an inch and a quarter in their cooked state.
They have a nice creamy texture similar to a potato.
I picked up a bag at the Rancho Gordo store in the Ferry building in San Francisco last week on our vacation, it can be difficult to find Corona beans in the stores most of the time but online you should have no problem.
You will find many producers of these beans but Rancho Gordo is one of my favorites, In fact I love all their beans, and I’m not getting paid to say that!
I decided to go out and buy a new crock pot since I never used mine and gave it away to my daughter, I wanted to slow cook my Corona’s after I saw my friend Cathy make a pot of Greek Gigante beans, which is also a large white bean. She tossed all the ingredients into the crock pot including the dry beans, not pre-soaked, but dry.
I have to say I wouldn’t recommend tossing in dry Corona’s they took forever to cook and to reach that creamy point, it was close to twelve hours, so next time I would definitely pre- soak them overnight to get them started and reduce the simmering time, like I said these beans are huge and they’re not exactly the same type as the Gigante beans that Cathy used, so my recipe instructions will be slightly different than hers.
This is my Italian version of pork and beans! Beans flavored with parmesan, garlic, onions, bacon, thyme, tomatoes and red pepper flakes then after they’re cooked, topped with a ring of the best Italian sausage you can buy, which will be pan seared and placed on top for serving. This is comfort food, stick to your ribs food, a welcome to fall!
You have to be patient, this isn’t a quick meal, you can make the beans the day before if you want either in the slow cooker or simmering on top of the stove, I guarantee your house will smell amazing and it’s definitely worth the wait!
Proud Italian Cook is also on Instagram, you can follow me here.
- 8 oz. dried Corona beans that have been soaked in water overnight for at least 8 hours, then drained
- 3 oz. bacon, diced
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 3 cups of chicken or vegetable broth
- 1 cup of water
- 1 14 oz. can of diced tomatoes or squished whole tomatoes
- 1 or 2 parmesan rinds
- a small handful of fresh thyme sprigs
- a big pinch of red pepper flakes
- 4 tablespoons of olive oil
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 lb. cooked, pan seared Italian sausage to serve on top of beans when finished cooking
- Place every single ingredient into a heavy pot or crock pot, simmer low and slow for hours, soaking the beans overnight will shorten the time. The true test for doneness is to taste at least 5 beans because beans all cook at different times.
- They should not be hard or have a crunch to the bite but rather they should taste creamy and soft like a potato.
- They could take anywhere between 3 - 6 or more hours depending on how high your flame is or how fast your crock pot takes.
- Keep tasting for salt, and remember they blow up, and the liquid will absorb them.
- Remember they should reach the creamy point!
- Serve them in pan with curved sides topped with the pre-cooked sausage ring.
I’m Marie, a wife, mother, mother-in-law, and gramma of two beautiful girls. My passion is food, clear and simple but especially Italian food, hence the name of my blog, Proud Italian Cook. I want you to feel right at home here so grab a cup of coffee, I’ll get the pastries, take a look around and enjoy your visit! {
cool site and good post. always love bean posts! just a thought suggestion/comment. cooking beans with acid i.e. tomatoes can make them tough and add hours to cooking time. had always heard that about salt to but ive since found that to be untrue.
keep up the good work.
Are you supposed to leave a lid on the pot. The broth is so thin.
Yes Carol, low and slow with a lid
Hi Marie, This looks fabulous! I live in Napa ran up to the Rancho Gordo shop downtown and picked up a pack of these beans on your recommendation. They are simmering right now! Thanks for the great recipe and RG beans really are the BEST!
Cheers, Linda
How awesome Linda, and lucky you for living in Napa! Enjoy!
First time I’ve heard of Corona beans—but I’m a real bean lover, so I’ve got to try them out soon. And there’s no better way to enjoy beans, of course, than with a savory sausage. 🙂
Serving these beans with sausage sounds delicious, Marie. I have also added cooked ham to the beans the last 2 hours of cooking. I often cook the beans overnight but last time I made the recipe I didn’t have that much time so I brought them to a boil in a medium saucepan, took them off the heat and let them cool in the cooking water for 3-4 hours. It cut the time in the crock pot way down. I’m going to add that to my recipe. When I was in Chicago I found the beans at Pete’s Market. I don’t think that is too far away from where you live. Wow, is that a great place! Thanks for the link.
Hi Marie, this sounds so wonderful. Can’t wait to try. I do have a question though. In your description of the dish you ay say that after the beans are cooked they’re topped by the Italian sausage (which is included in the recipe ingredients). However, in the instructions, you say “Place every single ingredient in the crock pot…” Does this include the sausage or do I add that at the end? In the photo the sausage looks as though it’s been browned in a skillet.
Sonja, I’ll try and make it clearer in the recipe but yes, the sausage is added at the end, not in the crock pot, it was browned in a skillet and placed on top at the end.
I never heard of Corona beans. Are they like lupini beans? I don’t know if I have the patience to wait 12 hours, but I would love to try this dish. I love that market inside the Ferry building too. I’m glad you got to experience it.
Wow!! Do you have any leftovers?? I can send you a self-addressed box with a container in it? 🙂 I had to laugh — I buy food souvenirs too. Hubby is always kidding me about purchasing something with “new” on the package because I’m a sucker for trying new things. Well, it looks like I’ll be trying these beans. Grazie per la ricetta. Buona giornata!
Isn’t the market in the SF Ferry Building wonderful? I loved the Farmer’s Market day–such veggie eye candy! I bought dried porcine mushrooms in a one pound bag there from the mushroom man.
At my Colorado altitude it is very difficult to make creamy beans from dry beans. I tried my slow cooker but that was not too successful. I want to try using my pressure cooker to see if that will help. This looks like an amazing dish!
I always have a difficult time thinking about tomorrow today, but these beans and sausage make me think I need to make the effort.
Did you precook the bacon or throw it in raw? Also did you really throw the sausage ring in to the crockpot too? From the picture it looks like you pan fried it to get that lovely browning on it. Perhaps you browned it afterwards?
Erika, the bacon was put in raw, not precooked and the sausage ring was definitely pan fried beforehand then placed on top of the cooked beans for serving.