Monastery Navy Bean Stew

This hearty navy bean stew can be adapted for fasting or feasting days by omitting or adding cheese. The Bedouins sun dry their goats’ milk to make aslafeeh, the local crumbly, salty cheese. Traditionally, they receive dates and bread as gifts from the monastery and reciprocate with gifts of cheese, goat ghee (samna) and orchard fruits. Drawing on aslafeeh and the gift-giving tradition between the Bedouins and monks, we added aged pecorino to this monastic dish to symbo