Just three of the many ways you can enjoy these white beans are: in a sea-salty clam broth, in a tuna and onion picnic treat, and in a courgette salad with lemon and herbs

The problem with dried beans is remembering to soak them. It is an oversight that is easily resolved, thanks to beans in tins, but the problem with those is that you don’t score the cooking water – the cloudy, sort-of-broth that is not so much flavoured as it is bean-tinted, and slightly thickened with starch that has leeched from the beans as they cook. For many recipes, this cooking water is as much an ingredient as the beans themselves, giving starchy substance and a leg-up in gentle flavour. Of course, you can always find a way if you do use tins, but it is never quite the same as that cloudy bonus.

Despite having left a packet of beans in clear sight, I ignored them for two days, only remembering on the third when I tried to put a dish on top of them. We are still in Sicily, in what was my partner’s grandparents’ house: a time capsule where furniture, photos, utensils, farming equipment in the garage, hollows in the terrazzo flooring and Martini from 1979 feel like portals into another time. Thankfully the water is back on, meaning it arrives in our side of the city every two days, seeping through the cracks in the road so we know to turn the motor on, which sucks 1,000 litres through the pipe that runs like a vein up the side of the house into a tank on the roof, noisily. The two long disruptions in the water supply this summer have turned me into a calculator: one and a half litres to soak the beans, one and a half more to cook them.

I have changed my mind about beans over the years. Having initially pooh-poohed the idea, I now add a scant half-teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda to the soaking water, whatever the bean. While chickpeas need longer, cannellini need 12-15 hours. I always use new water for simmering, adding a teaspoon of salt to it, which does not, as I once believed, toughen the skins. It’s quite the opposite in fact: it softens them and salts the cooking water, too.

Dried beans are also good value (most of the time), especially cannellini: 500g dried more than doubles in volume to just over a kilo when cooked, which is just the right amount for these three summer bean recipes. The bean cooking liquid is also a preserver: leave the remaining beans immersed in it in the fridge, lifting them out with a slotted spoon as you need them.

First things first though: remember to soak.

White beans three ways (clams and broth; tuna and onion; courgette, lemon and herbs)

500g dried/soaked beans produce about 1kg cooked ones, so there will be enough for all three recipes, which all serve two as a main, or four as a side dish. You can replace with tinned, drained beans.

500g white beans

Bay leaf

1-2 garlic cloves, peeled

Soak the beans in cold water for at least 12 hours. Drain, cover with fresh water, add a pinch of salt, a bay leaf and a clove of garlic. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer for an hour, or until the beans are tender.

For beans with clams

This first recipe is for beans and clams, which, like spaghetti and clams, is a favourite among favourites. In Gela, where there is a man selling tiny, clam-like telline on every street corner, they are also used for this dish. This should be a brothy dish – one that requires a spoon, a slurp and some bread to soak up the sea-salty juices.

500g clams or telline

Olive oil

1-2 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced

150ml white wine

1 shallot, peeled and diced small

1 stick of celery, diced small

Salt

350g cooked beans

Chopped parsley

Soak the clams or telline in lightly salted water for an hour, to leech out any sand trapped inside.

In a large frying pan with a lid, warm four tablespoons of olive oil and the garlic. Add the clams, shake the pan, raise the heat, add the white wine and cover, shaking the pan until the clams have opened.

If you are worried about sand, remove the clams, set aside and filter the liquid. You want about 100ml of deeply flavoured clam liquid so, if you have more, reduce by boiling.

In another pan, fry the chopped shallot and celery in olive oil with a pinch of salt until soft. Add a ladleful of bean cooking water, the beans and stir. Add the clams and the rest of the clam cooking water and bubble for a few minutes – it should be nice and brothy, so add more bean broth if it needs it.

Finish with a handful of parsley and serve with toasted or fried bread.

Beans with with tuna and onion

This suggestion, for the second batch is a summer standard. This is the salad I like to take to the local beach and squash in a soft white roll.

1 small red onion

Red-wine vinegar

Salt

350g cooked beans

1 x 160g tin tuna in olive oil (120g drained)

Chopped parsley

Olive oil

Peel and finely slice the onion, and soak in a mixture of half red-wine vinegar and water with a pinch of salt for 15 minutes, then drain.

Drain the tuna. Mix 300g cooked beans with the onion, tuna and a handful of chopped parsley. Taste and season with salt. Dress with a few of tablespoons of olive oil, two tablespoons of bean cooking water, and a splash of red-wine vinegar.

Beans with courgette, lemon and herbs

In winter, I would heat the last beans with olive oil, mashing some of them to a puree and serving under sausage or lamb. It is still summer here, though, so this last idea uses prolific courgettes. The dressing is the delight. It is a dish that benefits from a rest; just remember to toss again before you serve at room temperature.

1 large courgette

Olive oil

Zest and juice of 1 lemon

1 handful chopped herbs (basil, parsley, mint)

350g cooked beans

Halve, then either boil (in salted water) or steam the courgettes until tender, then dice.

For the dressing, mix six tablespoons of olive oil, two tablespoons of bean cooking water, the lemon juice and zest, and a handful of chopped herbs, and pour this over the courgettes and the white beans.