Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Brush bread slices with oil on both sides and place them on the baking sheet. Place in the middle of the oven and toast the bread 2 minutes on each side, just until the edges get slightly crispy. Remove from the oven, set aside and turn up the heat to 400°F (200°C).
Prepare the beans: Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large skillet set over medium heat. Add the garlic and let it cook for about 15 seconds, just until fragrant. Stir in the tomato paste, oregano and paprika and cook for about 30 seconds, until they’re fragrant and melt into each other.
Fold in the beans, making sure they’re all coated with the tomato paste. Add 1/2 cup (120 ml) of water and parsley.
Stir and cook on medium heat, maintaining a gentle simmer, until the sauce is creamy (and not like a soup) - about 10 minutes. Add the butter and mix it evenly with the beans as it melts. Taste and adjust seasonings, then remove beans from heat.
Bake:Once the oven is ready, spoon the beans evenly over the bread slices. Top each slice with grated cheese. Bake in the oven until the cheese is melted and bubbly, about 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and serve (add some sliced fresh basil if you have it on hand).
Notes
Cannellini beans are also called white kidney beans. They’re the perfect size for this recipe. I like to use canned (always drain them first), but if you have homemade white beans, you can easily use those. You can use any bread you like. Make sure you have thin, sandwich-style slices. Anything thicker can make this difficult to eat. If you have a toaster, you can skip toasting the bread in the oven and use the toaster instead. If you don’t have cheese to grate, you can use sliced cheese. Cover each piece of bread and beans with 2 slices of cheese and bake until bubbly.If your oven has a broiler, you can broil the toasts instead of baking them. Broil the toast for about 2 minutes or just until the cheese is bubbly.