Flageolet beans with garlic and thyme (and polenta!)

This is seriously delicious dish, wierdly creamy and garlicky-it is inspired by a recipe from Sarah Raven who serves this with roast lamb, a good spoonful of redcurrant jelly and oven roasted winter roots.  I eat mine with polenta!  I have a number of variations of this recipe that feature regularly on our table-like greek white beans with mint and olive oil.
For this I use dried flageolet beans soaked over night-flor a less slushy texture than canned beans but either work, and if one is in a hurry canned is fine.

500 g green flageolet beans (or white cannellini beans), soaked over night-or two tins
4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
6 red onions, thinly sliced
3 tomatoes, halved
500 ml veg stock
a handful of fresh thyme
salt and black pepper

Preheat a medium oven (180/gas mark 4).  Put the beans, garlic, onions tomatoes, stock and thyme in an over proof pan.  Bring to the boil then cover and transfer to the oven and cook for about an hour (if used tinned beans cook for only 30mins).  Add salt and pepper and cook for another 20 mins (or 10 mins for tinned beans).

Fast Polenta:
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp salt
250g instant polenta
Fill a pot with about 6 cups of water, then add the oil and salt.  Bring the water to the boil.  Drizzle the polenta into the water, whisking constantly for a few minutes until it is thick and smooth.  It should be a thick pouring consistency.  Serve at once.

Any left over polenta can be poured into a baking tray and spead evenly, leave to cool completely.  Cut it into wedges. Heat a chargrill pan -when hot grill the polenta until solid ridges form on the underside-and then can be used as a crostini for a savoury topping!