The 5-Minute Dinner I Make Again and Again

From Georgia Freedman’s new cookbook, Snacking Dinners, this 5-minute lunch or dinner is a winner. Crispy toast is topped with creamy white beans, flavorful salami, garlic, and Parmesan.

Angled view of a blue plate of two pieces of White Bean and Salami Toasts on a paisley tablecloth — Simply Recipes / Leela Cyd

Beans on toast is one of those magical foods that, once assembled, is far more than the sum of its parts. If you’ve never had it, the combination of these two extremely common (and not super exciting) beige-brown ingredients might sound, well, pretty boring.

And yet, the combination works so well that it has become a staple in a variety of countries: in England you’ll find a version made of baked beans with sugar and tomato; in Italy you might see white beans flavored with garlic and Parmesan (plus high-quality olive oil, of course).

This version is inspired by the Italian approach, and I’ve added salami (a staple we keep tucked in the back of the fridge) and a good amount of dried oregano. It’s the kind of dish that you might make in a pinch, just because all the ingredients are so easy to keep around, but once you taste it, you’ll make it again and again.

Georgia Freedman’s new cookbook, Snacking Dinners, comes out April 8 and is available for preorder now.

Prepare the components:

Finely chop the salami slices and mince the garlic. Toast the bread.

Heat the oil in a small nonstick pan over medium-high heat, then add the salami, garlic, and beans. Season everything with a few grinds of pepper (a bit more than you would normally think necessary) and a few generous shakes of oregano.

Cook the mixture, stirring, until everything is heated through, about 3 minutes.